


Another Responsible Adult

by HunterEnough



Series: Just Another Roommate!AU [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Drunken Confessions, Dry Humping, M/M, Masturbation in Shower
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 11:57:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 35,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17365490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HunterEnough/pseuds/HunterEnough
Summary: Same story line as Life Changes, but told from Cas' perspective.Cas is almost 40, and he's tired of knocking around in his big empty house by himself. He's tired of the quiet and the lonely. A housemate could be like a cat without the responsibility, right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- Currently, I'm aiming for about 2-3 posts per week, probably split between this and Life Changes, but I'm headed to Dubai at the end of the month, so we'll see how that goes.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Cas rolled over in his bed and looked at the clock. It was almost 3 a.m., but he just couldn’t fall asleep. It had been a pretty quiet day at work, nothing crazy really. Working on an oncology ward definitely had its moments, but today had been generally somber. Nothing like reminding a few dozen people that it was the start of what was likely their last year on earth to put them in a gray mood. He rolled back into his pillow. 

He wished he could attribute his own mood to having rubbed off from his patients, but it was the overwhelming silence of the house that was killing him. It had been a year. One full year since he’d come home from work just a couple of hours early to find Fergus in the hot tub with Brady and Meg.  He would say he’d been shocked, but he hadn’t really. Since they’d moved into the house, Fergus had been different. Less settled, and making every effort to make it widely known that he wasn’t ready to ‘just settle into the domestic suburban life.’ He’d even made a point of keeping his lease on the crappy apartment that Cas had been sharing with him. So, Cas wasn’t shocked, or even surprised, so much as simply disappointed. Maybe a little angry with himself for holding on so tightly to the hope that just maybe he’d be enough for Fergus someday even if he ‘wasn’t even a doctor’ and actually liked ‘the literal white picket fence’ that surrounded the backyard and could be happy ‘just sitting on the couch on a Saturday night, waiting for the fucking dryer.’

He was a homebody at heart, but this home was just so...empty. Silent and empty. He’d never intended for his to be the only shoes on the mat, the only coat by the door. It was a big house, four bedrooms and a wide open living space that was  _ made _ for family entertaining. 

There were no lingering reminders of his partner. He’d made sure of it. Replaced every stick of furniture, banished every photo, cleaned every surface, but the echo of the quiet was a snapshot all by itself, reminding him that once, for a while, there had been someone else knocking about the house, making comfortable living noises while he tried to sleep.

He’d considered getting a pet, but had instantly discarded the idea. He was gone so much of the time, and sleeping for a lot of the rest. He’d feel guilty forcing an animal to share this level of solitude.

What he needed was another person in the house. Someone who could fend for themselves, who wasn’t reliant on him for meals or a social life. Not another boyfriend, God knows that had not worked out well, but someone to just  _ be _ there sometimes, taking up space and using the toilet paper and drinking coffee and making dishes. Just another human to share the space. He needed a housemate.

He rolled into a sitting position.  _ If I’m not going to sleep, I might as well just do this. _

He stumbled over to the chair in the corner, flicked on the lamp, plopped into the cushions and dragged his laptop into his lap. It only took him a minute to navigate to the local classifieds, and another to start an ad. What did he  _ want _ in a housemate anyway?

Definitely not another leech like Fergus, that’s for sure. Somebody who would pull their own weight with the household crap and not eat him out of house and home. Someone he could trust. He needed another responsible adult who just needed a place to call home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evidently, only spam bots reply to ads on holidays.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- Currently, I'm aiming for about 2-3 posts per week, probably split between this and Life Changes, but I'm headed to Dubai at the end of the month, so we'll see how that goes.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

By noon, Cas was wishing he’d never posted the ad. Of the 15 responses he’d gotten on his account, 12 of them had been propositions for sex and the other 3 had been offering lawn services. Not one person had actually been looking for a place to live. 

He settled onto a stool at the island with his freshly made peanut butter and jelly sandwich to consider his options. He could take the ad down and ask around at work. Maybe there was another nurse looking for an apartment or something. He could also ride it out for at least a few days. Maybe he was just getting bot replies because of the holiday. After all, it wasn’t like a ton of people were likely to be searching for houses on New Year’s Day. He suspected he’d still get a bunch of automated responses, but if he could wade through them, at least for a little while, maybe he would get a few people who were actually interested.

His phone dinged.  _ Another person looking to plow me out. _ He chuckled at his own play on words and clicked into the email section of the classifieds app. Holy shit, a real person.

> **Dean Winchester, 39, Manager at Singer Auto Repair. I’m quiet in the morning before work, and I’m out the door by 7. My current roommate is a slob, so I’m pretty used to taking care of the household chores. I’ll admit, it’s been a while since I had to shovel or mow, but I’m willing to do both. If you need more information for the public records check, let me know. Otherwise, I look forward to more details about the place. I can bring check stubs (as many as you want, I’ve been at the same place for over twenty years). Hope to hear from you soon, and Happy New Year.**

A real person who actually just might qualify as a responsible adult. 

Cas spent the hour he had left before he had to get ready for work looking the guy up on as many regional records sites as he could find. As far as he could tell, there was nothing to show that the guy was a criminal. He supposed he could pay for a real background check, but he’d need more information for that. Besides, if the guy really had been working at Singer Auto, which he was pretty sure was only a couple of blocks away, for 20 years, it wasn’t all that likely that he’d managed to get locked up somewhere else. Plus, he'd been willing to give more information if needed. He was at least worth a shot.

~~~~~

The mood on the floor was the opposite as it had been the night before. Where yesterday his patients and their families had been somber, today they seemed to be focused on making the most of every minute that they had left. The fiance of the woman in 704 even managed to pull off a wedding, complete with several of their family members and a cake. The brother of the younger guy in 723 brought in a bunch of guys from their league hockey team. Getting everyone out who wasn’t allowed overnight and then getting the patients settled when visiting hours were over had been insane. Still, he preferred these nights to the grey ones.

It was almost 7 before he got a chance to grab a granola bar from the vending machine and send a text message to the guy who’d emailed earlier. Who was still, incidentally, the only  _ real _ person to have replied to his ad. The guy, Dean, texted him back immediately. He had just enough time to agree to a meeting tomorrow before he was called back to a patient’s room. Never a dull moment.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas tries not to be a creepy nutjob while showing his house to a potential housemate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are. br />  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- Currently, I'm aiming for about 2-3 posts per week, probably split between this and Life Changes, but I'm headed to Dubai at the end of the month, so we'll see how that goes.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Cas overslept. It was rare for him to actually get a full 8 hours, but today, he’d managed to sleep until almost 10 leaving him with only two hours to do a flight-of-the-bumblebee-esque cleaning of the main part of the house. It was just enough to get his scrubs out of the entryway where he’d dropped them last night, sweep the takeout menus back into the drawer where they belonged, and move the pile of dishes from the sink to the dishwasher, before suiting up to tackle the three inches of snow that had accumulated since he’d gotten home this morning. 

Shoveling the wide driveway and the walk to the front door took a lot longer than snowblowing would have, but his fucking snowblower had bitten the dust just after the first storm, and he hadn’t managed to find a small engine mechanic to take a look at it. Actually hadn’t even managed to look yet, although surely that was more efficient than  _ shoveling _ . Ugh.

He’d barely gotten into dry clothes and poured himself a cup of coffee before there was a light knock on the door.  _ Thank God he didn’t ring the bell. _ The damned thing was loud, and always managed to startle him, usually enough to make him spill whatever he was holding. Another thing he hadn’t made time to figure out how to fix since it was so rarely used.

He glanced at the microwave clock on the way to the door. 12:04. This guy was prompt, and that had to be a good sign. He pulled open the door and found one of the most beautiful men he’d ever seen standing on his porch. His cheeks were reddened slightly by the cold, his jaw shadowed with stubble, and those lips...he watched as the guys tongue darted out to wet them slightly before disappearing again...those fucking _plush_ lips. His brain took a turn sideways into all the places Cas would like to see those lips. Shit. _Don’t be creepy, don’t be creepy, don’t be creepy._ Definitely don’t stare at the potential housemates lips like a wackjob. He moved his gaze up a little and met the most incredible set of green eyes he’d ever seen. _Not contacts, no lens lines._ Just insanely green eyes. _Great, now I’m staring into the guy’s eyes._ _Way to not be creepy Novak._

Mr. Hot Lips,  _ no, Dean, _ cleared his throat, looking a little uncomfortable, and offered his hand. 

“Dean Winchester.” Oh my God, he could live with that voice. Definitely.

“Hello Dean. Castiel Novak. Nice to meet you. Come in.” He stepped back from the door to let the other man in, and gestured to the wall behind the door Dean. He glanced around the room nervously, trying to see the place as a stranger might. It looked...a little sterile.

“So, a tour? The main part of the house is pretty open.” He flung his arm out to indicate the space. Jesus man, reel it in. You want him to want to live here, not run away from the crazy person.

He stepped into the living room and wiggled his toes in the carpet, trying to settle himself. 

“I don’t spend much time here, really, except on the weekends. By the time I get home from work, I’m ready for a shower and bed.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling. You said you have a funky schedule?”

“I work on the oncology ward at the hospital. The afternoon shift is 2- midnight.”

“Long days doing that kind of work.” 

He shrugged. “Could be worse. A lot of hospitals run twelve hour shifts now, and I’ve got seniority, so I get the Monday-Thursday schedule. Always a three day weekend. It helps that I love my job.”  _ Jesus, stop talking, you’re just a nurse.  _ He kept moving. “This is the dining room. I use it even less than the living room actually. When I do actually sit down to eat, I usually eat at the island.”

“I cook a little, but cooking for one sucks. I want to get better at it though, it’s one of my resolutions.” 

“My cooking is generally limited to scrambled eggs, toast, cold sandwiches, and spaghetti with jarred sauce, so you’re probably ahead of me already.” He pulled open a narrow drawer on the island. “I’ve got menus for every delivery and takeout place in town though. I promise not to touch anything on your side of the refrigerator though. You don’t have to worry about me stealing your leftovers.”

“Noted. Definitely an improvement over my current roommate. I’m lucky if he leaves anything for me to eat, even though I do all of the grocery shopping.”

“Ahh, I had an ex like that. Always hungry, but never bothered to actually buy food.” He shook his head.  _ Don’t mention Fergus, you don’t need to advertise the fact that you’re gay. _

Dean just grunted in agreement, and they moved into the hallway.

“Unfortunately, there’s only one full bathroom.” He opened the bathroom and stepped in.  “Fortunately, it is very well equipped.”

“No shit!” Dean had followed him in, and suddenly the huge room seemed a lot smaller. “Sorry, it’s just, I’ve never seen a bathroom like this outside of a fancy hotel.” 

Exactly what he'd been aiming for with the remodel. “It’s probably my favorite room. Sometimes, after a particularly bad day, I like to take a soak before bed.” He gestured at the deep soaker tub. 

“Oh my God, that sounds awesome.” 

Cas nodded, trying not to picture Dean up to his neck in bubbles in the tub, or without the bubbles... He gestured wildly at the vanity. “This sink would be yours. It has a medicine cabinet behind the mirror. I keep my towels and washcloths in the bottom drawer, and cleaning supplies under my sink, but you’re welcome to the rest of the space.”  _ And now he knows you’re desperate for him to move in. Smooth. _

Dean smiled. “Given our schedules, I doubt we’ll have much trouble balancing bathroom times. Sounds like I’m out the door before you’re up and you’re gone before I get home.”

“Yes. Should make it easy to keep from fighting over the shower.”  _And I don't have to worry about keeping the noise down in there._ He grinned over his shoulder as he stepped back into the hall. 

“This is a guest bathroom, so we really only have to share with overnight guests. And this is the guest room. It’s a little small, but occasionally one of my siblings comes in for the weekend to visit. You’re welcome to use it for guests as well, if you’d like. Either way, it’s probably a good idea to put in on the house calendar so we don’t end up double booking.”

Dean shrugged. “My family lives pretty close, so I don’t really have anybody who would need to spend the night. Unless, I become clinically insane and offer to have my nephews overnight, but I really don’t see that happening.” 

“They’d be welcome on the weekend. How old are they?” Maybe his newphes could make use of the stockpile of toys his own family had never really used.

“Three and five. We’re celebrating full potty training and no accidents now. Very exciting.”

“Oh, that is!” He remembered when Anna’s were that age.  “This is the den. I actually have several nieces and nephews myself, so there’s a stash of stuff in here just in case.” He showed Dean the closet full of kids paraphernalia then moved over to his desk. “This is the house calendar. Basically, I just use it to organize bills, etc. But if we’re having guests, that’s probably a good thing to note as well. And I keep a running grocery list. I thought maybe we could take turns picking up the standard household things, toilet paper, coffee, etcetera, but if you prefer, we can do it a different way.”  _ Oh my God just please stop babbling. _

“No, that sounds fine. I usually shop on Saturday, unless something comes up in the meantime, and I don’t mind picking up whatever.”

They wandered back into the hall and to the final two doors, both open. “These are the twin masters.” He walked into his room, waving Dean in after him, and stopped.  _ Shit, I forgot that I didn’t clean up in here. _ “This one is mine. Sorry, I haven’t gotten to laundry.”

“Judgement free zone.” Dean lifted his hands out in front of him. “Besides, I was kind of starting to wonder if you kept a maid or something. The whole place is spotless.”

“It’s not too hard, since I rarely have time to mess it, but I do look forward to splitting the chores.”  _And you didn't see me frantically cleaning this morning._

“Is that the only reason you’re looking for a roommate? I mean I dated a nurse once, and he made as much as me at least.”  _ He? He’s blushing! That’s fucking adorable. Probably as freaked out as me about coming out to a strange guy. _

“Honestly, that’s definitely part of it. I bought this house a couple of years back, with the intention of starting a family. My partner at the time, didn’t have the same ideas, which I found out when I found him in the hot tub with his assistants. Plural. I love the house, I really do, but it it’s just so big for just me. It gets...lonely.”  _ And, we’re back to sounding desperate. Great. _

Dean huffed out a breath. “Man, I’m sorry. That really sucks. My last real breakup was pretty amicable, but I’d gotten pretty close to her kid, so that sucked. Still, at least you got to keep the house, and it really is awesome. I wound up in a shitty third floor walkup.”

“So did Fergus.” Castiel chuckled and led Dean back to the door. “This place was always mine. At any rate, this one would be yours. It’s the same as mine, just opposite. I didn’t ask, do you have furniture?”

“I have some, but seeing your room, I think I might get some new stuff. I can call it doing something for myself and tag it as part of my resolutions.” 

Cas grinned at him. Sounded like Dean was ready for a fresh start like Cas had been. “I donated everything that was here when Fergus moved out. It was cathartic. New furniture for my fresh start. I wouldn’t mind going with you, it can be a little tedious on your own.” Maybe it was a little nice to be able to talk about his ex with somebody who might understand.

“I have a feeling I don’t want to get on your bad side. I might come home to find all my crap on the front lawn.”

He couldn’t stop the laugh that burst out. “Don’t fuck your barely legal assistants in the hot tub, and we should be fine.” 

“I’d have bigger problems than you to deal with if I did that. Benny, my lead technician, has been married for a long time, and his old lady can be downright scary in that Stepford wife kind of way. Charlie, my left-hand girl, is a gold-star lesbian, and I’m pretty sure she’d kill to protect her record.” 

“One less thing to worry about then. Emptying the hot tub is a bitch.” He pulled open the basement door and flipped the light. He concentrated on not spilling his coffee, now lukewarm but still full, on the way down the stairs.

“I usually do my laundry on Sunday afternoon, but I don’t mind negotiating that. I could probably do it Friday while you’re at work.”

Dean shook his head. “No worries. I like to do mine in the morning, usually Saturday, but sometimes I slack until Sunday. I can have it out of the way by noon, no problem.”

He just nodded and flung his arm out at the rest of the space.  _ Spaz. _ “The basement is sound proofed, so you don’t have to worry about making noise down here while I’m sleeping. You’re welcome to use any of the equipment of course. I practice yoga, so there’s blocks and straps and stuff in the tote if you’re interested. Otherwise, there rest of the basement is mostly unfinished. It’s sealed, but that’s about it. You can use it for storage if you want. I have Christmas stuff stuck in there.” Cas shrugged. “I guess that’s about it. Hot tub is on the back deck, the yard is fenced in and completely private. Oh, the garage. You run an automotive shop, I’m sure you’re interested.”

“You say that like you aren’t.”

“Well, I enjoy not having to scrape the ice off of my windows.” He headed back upstairs and pulled open the garage door. “This is the door I usually use. I don’t really use anything in here except the freezer. You can use the workbench if you want. Unfortunately, the snowblower died in the middle of that last big storm, so we’re stuck shoveling.”

“Or, you tell your mechanic housemate that the snow blower’s broken, and he fixes it.” 

_ His mechanic housemate. Didn’t that sound nice.  _ “So you like it?”

“Dude, it is perfect. I’m not convinced you’re not a serial killer it’s so nice and the rent is so affordable, but at this point, I think I might be willing to help you bury a body or two for a chance to live here.”

“Awesome. You’re the first person that’s answered the ad that I think I’d actually like to share a house with.”  _ Because pornbots just aren’t my thing.  _ He glanced at his watch. “I really need to get ready for work, but I can give you a copy of the lease to read over, and you can text me with questions. I can’t always answer right away, but I usually get a few minutes here or there. When were you looking to move in?”

“Honestly, unless you ask for my firstborn as deposit, I’ll put notice in tomorrow, so within the next two weeks if that’s OK?”

He nodded “Anytime. We can work out the details this weekend.”  _ Yes!  _

“Thanks so much for showing me this place, Castiel. This is exactly what I was hoping for.”

Cas glanced at the contents of the folder Dean had given him earlier, clearly Dean had been telling the truth about his job. He stuffed the lease into the folder on top and handed it back, and his knowledge of a nurse's salary hadn't been far off. “My friends call me Cas, and since I’m looking forward to sharing a house with you, I’m hoping you’ll fall into that category.” He offered Dean a hand to shake.

“Can’t wait Cas. I’ll shoot you a text if anything comes up with the lease, otherwise, I’ll plan on giving you a call Friday after work. Sound good?”

He didn’t want Dean to leave, now that he was here. But, he really did need to get ready for work. “Sounds good. Have a great afternoon Dean.” 

“You too Cas.” Dean waved at him on his way to the shiny vintage car parked in the driveway.

 Cas did a little happy dance, sloshing coffee onto the floor. _ So, do I take down the ad or do I wait until he signs the lease?  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies, sometimes the conversation will overlap between the two works. It happens a lot in this chapter, but I'll try to clean that up in the future.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just another night at the hospital for Cas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- Currently, I'm aiming for about 2-3 posts per week, probably split between this and Life Changes, but I'm headed to Dubai at the end of the month, so we'll see how that goes.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

 

Cas walked into work on a cloud. Amber, the charge nurse, noticed it immediately.

“Ooh, what’s got you in such a good mood today?”

Cas tucked his tray of leftover Thai food into the fridge and signed into the computer to clock in. “Nothing, just had a good day.”

“Really? I haven’t seen a smile on your face that big since you closed on your house. So, does your ‘nothing’ have a name?”

Cas forced the wattage on his smile down. “Really, I just had a good day. Which rooms are mine tonight?” He changed the subject intentionally, though he could have gotten the information just as well from the computer in front of him.

They talked about how the day had been going for a few minutes before he went to find Zach, the first shift nurse he’d be taking over for. Zach was his least favorite nurse to follow. The guy was an entitled asshole, and he always managed to leave the patients in a bad mood. It would take Cas until after dinner to get caught up with the things that Zach didn’t like to do or simply thought were below his RN pay grade. Yes, the CNAs generally handled the baths and potty breaks and the like, but there really wasn’t enough time for them to do everything without some help. It was going to be a long few hours. 

~~~~~

It was well after 7 before he’d finished getting all of his patients resituated and happy again.  _ Fucking Zach. I can’t believe he still works here with the number of complaints I get about him. _ Cas checked his phone to see if Dean had texted with any questions about the lease. He didn’t want to rush him, but he was ready to stop wading through spam. Plus, Dean had seemed pretty considerate, so maybe he was just waiting until he knew Cas wasn’t busy or sleeping to text.  _ OK, I’ll send one short text so he knows he can text me if he wants, then I’ll leave it. _

Dean texted him back immediately, and Cas grinned. Dean was definitely moving in and he they were going furniture shopping this weekend!

He shot Dean a (probably too enthusiastic) response, nuked his leftovers and sat down at the table. They texted back and forth while Cas ate. Dean’s friends were planning to help him move, and Cas was looking forward to meeting them. His house was made for people, but he’s never had more than just his sister and her family there at one time. Dean’s housewarming would be a first.

_ Isn’t that sad. I had to move somebody into the house to get people to come over. _ Since Fergus, he really hadn’t been very social. His friends hadn’t liked Fergus much, so he’d spent less and less time with them. When they broke up, he didn’t really go back to it. Sure, he still talked to some of his old friends, but most of his time was spent at work or at home. It was nice just having somebody to chat with about something other than work. He’d just finished shoveling the last bite of curry into his mouth when he got buzzed back to a patient room to check an IV site for infiltration. Figures, fucking Zach couldn’t even do that right.

When he finally got a chance to peek at his phone again, he had another message from Dean waiting. 

> **I’ll keep in touch. I hope your shift goes well. Good night Cas.**

Somehow having Dean say he hoped his shift went well had an entirely different meaning than when one of the other nurses said it on their way out. 

_ Maybe I should start taking people up on the offer to stop off for a drink before heading home.  _ If one text message from a guy he’d just met could make him grin like an idiot, he almost definitely needed to get out more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that's Zachariah. I can't imagine a worse nurse, and I've had to deal with some pretty shitty ones.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shopping for furniture can be tedious. Shopping for furniture with Dean and Charlie is an experience Cas will never forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- Currently, I'm aiming for about 2-3 posts per week, probably split between this and Life Changes, but I'm headed to Dubai at the end of the month, so we'll see how that goes. (I'm working to get Cas caught up this weekend, so I'm hoping to get to Chapter 7 on both today. 😁)  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Cas set down his tablet when his phone dinged with an incoming text message.

> **We’re at BBB and we haven’t made it out of the kitchen section. Cas, there are two carts now. I don’t know if I’m going to survive. No way we’re going to make it to the furniture store in half an hour, you mind bumping it a little?**

He grinned. He knew exactly how easy it was to get caught up in Bed, Bath and Beyond. You could go in for towels and come out with about a hundred other things as well. Since they’d spent quite a bit of time over the last week discussing just how under equipped Dean thought his ‘gorgeous’ kitchen was, it was no surprise that they had a cart full of supplies. 

> **I’m flexible, just let me know when you’re headed over there.**

He’d been working on the planning sheet for Dean’s room, hoping that it would make the shopping trip easier and prevent the two return trips that he’d had to make when he’d furnished his own room. He’d drawn the room out on a perfectly scaled grid and added all of his own furniture. He figured he could add or adjust pieces as needed while they shopped, but at least they’d have a start. Dean would have a way of seeing how everything would fit, and he wouldn’t feel like a third wheel while they shopped. 

~~~~~

It was just about 2 when Dean told him they were headed to the furniture place, and Cas had already been on his way out the door. He thought maybe he could get a head start on searching out things that might work, but now they'd probably beat him there.

He got to the store and was just about to start looking for them when he was tackled from behind in a full body hug.  _ Charlie? _

She climbed off of him after pronouncing that they’d be friends, definitely a good sign if she was as close to Dean as he expected, and he wasn’t surprised to find that she was a little redhead. Her puffy red jacket made her look years younger than she probably was; Dean was standing slightly behind her and looked mortified. Cas just grinned. 

He watched as Dean chastised his friend, while Charlie looked completely unrepentant. He interrupted, granting Charlie leave to call him by his shortened name, before finally moving forward to greet Dean with a hand shake. After proper introductions were made, they moved out of the entry and onto the sales floor.

They greeted the clerk, who seemed content to simply follow them around, and headed for the bedroom furniture. He opened his tablet, and Charlie was immediately at his side, cooing over his preparedness. 

“He likes dark woods, and he’ll need something sturdy. He’s kind of an angry sleeper. He slept on my couch once, and almost took out my girlfriend when she tried to bring him coffee.”

“Charlie…” Dean groaned and covered his face. “I was hungover.” Cas wasn’t sure if it was a denial of being an angry sleeper or an excuse for the rude waking, but it was cute regardless.

Cas mentally narrowed down their selection. Despite the possibly flawed logic, Cas suspected Charlie’s description of Dean’s preferences was spot on, so he lead them to the first set that might work.

“There’s no drawers in the night stands. Where're we gonna keep the lube?” Dean looked like he wanted to hide at Charlie's loud observation. Cas gently took his elbow as they walked over to the next set.

“Noted, lube storage is definitely important.”

“Dude, don’t encourage her!” 

Charlie flopped onto the next bed and patted her sides for them to join her. “It’s memory foam Dean. I know you like memory foam.”

They plopped onto the bed on either side of her, and Cas noticed the clerk giving them a sideways glance. He grinned, suspecting that it was part of Charlie’s fun.

“I don’t like the dressers though. They have all that-” he waved his hand at the detailed carving on the drawers, “fancy decoration that just collects dust.” 

Evidently, they shared a similar taste in furniture then, as Cas was a fan of clean modern lines himself. 

Dean firmly vetoed the set with the four-poster bed, despite Charlie’s colorful description of bondage possibilities, which left them with a set that was nearly identical to the one Cas had in his room. Dean sat on the bed and watched as he measured each piece and Charlie adjusted the model on his tablet. Perfect fit. Dean just nodded at the clerk and noted that he'd want the memory foam mattress instead of the innerspring on the model.

Charlie threaded her arm through his as Dean chatted with the clerk. She interrupted when the clerk made to move them to the counter at the front of the store, dragging him over to add Dean to their cozy little group.  _ Little troublemaker. _

“Actually, we still need a few more things. Why don’t we wander, and I’ll give you a holler when we’ve found the rest?” The clerk looked a little alarmed, but he let them walk away unaccompanied.

Charlie led them, still linked at the arm, to the section of arm chairs. 

“What’s this all about?” Dean asked, wiggling the arm Charlie was clinging to. Charlie giggled. 

“I’m guessing your gold star enjoys giving the impression that she keeps both of us on our toes.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Dean over Charlie’s head.

“Jesus Christ Charlie. I really can’t take you anywhere.” Cas noticed that Dean didn’t move away though. “Do they still have the chair that you have Cas? It looks comfortable, and I liked the style.”

He lead them to the piece in question, and Dean plunked himself down, mushing back into the cushions before putting his feet up on the ottoman and letting his head fall back.

“Seriously, that chair is big enough for both of you.” She gave Cas a shove in Dean’s direction. He didn’t push away as she maneuvered him into the chair beside Dean. He’d be lying if he hadn’t considered just this, relaxing in the wide chair-and-a-half, maybe reading a book or watching TV. He sat a little stiffly, not wanting to make Dean uncomfortable.

Dean, it seemed, had given up at this point on fighting against Charlie. He let his head fall onto Cas’ shoulder. “Can’t you just show me the furniture you have and save me from Charlie?” It was mumbled low, almost directly into his ear, and Cas had to fight a shiver.

“I can do that.” He stood up and offered Dean a hand to get him vertical as well. 

Dean offered him a little grin, and neither hesitated when Charlie linked them up at the elbows again, though with Cas leading the way this time. They had the a handful of the little ‘show me to a sales associate’ tags in hand and were at the counter with the clerk in short time.

When Dean had paid for the order, Cas stepped up to take care of the delivery. He leaned into the clerk, sliding his credit card forward.

“Last time I had furniture delivered, I was able to have the delivery men assemble and position it. Is that still an option?” He said it quietly, hoping that Dean wouldn’t notice. He wanted it to be a surprise, a housewarming gift for his new housemate.

The clerk leaned in a little, pushing the scheduling book forward, and keeping his tone low to match Cas’.  _ This guys sure knows how to make his customers happy. _ “We can certainly do that sir. Our delivery team has availability any afternoon this week. The lamp and side table have to be ordered, but we expect them to be delivered here on Tuesday. The rest of the pieces are in stock.” They set the delivery for Friday afternoon, and his card was charged discreetly. Cas was pretty sure that Charlie noticed, but Dean seemed to be lost in thought. 

When he was finished, he reclaimed his tablet from Charlie and they headed back out to the parking lot. 

Charlie turned to him with  a distinctly mischievous look. “So, Dean’s car is packed with stuff for the house, and we were hoping you wouldn’t mind him dropping it off. Doesn’t really make sense to lug it all up to his old apartment.”   
  
“Don’t even try. I know you just want to get a look at the place. You’re lucky I like you.” Cas faced Dean to continue. “You’re welcome to though, of course. I’ll open the garage so we don’t have to track through the snow a hundred times.”

They agreed to meet back at the house, and Cas climbed into his truck and headed home. 

~~~~~

Charlie had no boundaries, and Cas loved it. While he and Dean lugged in the bags and boxes from Bed, Bath and Beyond, she explored the house. He could hear her squealing in the bathroom, and he was pretty sure she might have bounced on his bed.  _ My own fault for leaving my door open I guess. _ He was definitely glad she seemed comfortable in the space. 

She finally came back to the entry to help them sort the haul into kitchen and bedroom stuff, and they tucked all of the new linens into Dean’s soon-to-be room before tackling the new kitchenware. Cas wasn’t sure he even knew what all of the appliances and gadgets were, but everything was unpacked and had found a home by the time they were done.

Charlie ‘supervised’ from a stool at the island while they reorganized the cabinets, playing on her phone. Occasionally offering up commentary (“You have a waffle iron now Dean, so I guess you’ll be hosting brunch one of these days.”), but generally just observing. When they’d broken down the last of the boxes and taken out the trash, she hopped off her seat and put her hands on her hips. 

“So, pizza will be here in about 10 minutes. What are we gonna watch?”

Dean groaned and covered his face again, but Cas just grinned. He was glad he didn’t have to ask. He’d had more fun today than he had in a long time, and he wasn’t ready for the day to be over. 

Once Dean had finished explaining  about how it was polite to ask before making decisions for other people, they’d accepted the pizza delivery and were settled on the floor around the coffee table, scrolling through the movies on Netflix.

_ I think I’m going to really like having a housemate. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course Cas and Charlie get on famously, because, how can anyone not love Charlie instantly?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas gets to meet Dean's family, and he learns a lot about Dean in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- Currently, I'm aiming for about 2-3 posts per week, probably split between this and Life Changes, but I'm headed to Dubai at the end of the month, so we'll see how that goes.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Cas was up early, and excited.  _ Dean is moving in today.  _ Nobody could prove that he made a little squealing sound in his head at the thought. Stepping out of his bedroom door, Dean’s door was standing wide open. The movers from the furniture store had rather efficiently assembled the bed and tables, and had placed everything exactly to the plan, not even complaining when Cas had dug out his tape measure to make sure the bed was perfectly centered between the windows and pulled out the dresser drawers to make sure they wouldn’t touch when they were both open. Not that anyone really ever opens drawers on two dressers at one time, but still, it was the idea.

The pile of plastic bags from last weekend glared at him from the corner. The furniture was ready, but Dean would have a few of hours of laundry ahead of him before bed tonight. Cas took a step forward and started sorting through the bags, the least he could do was sort them out so he’d only have to deal with what he actually needed right away. As he re-folded towels and washcloths, he thought about his own move. After long hours of hauling boxes and getting things situated, the last thing he’d wanted to do was make the bed, let alone do laundry.

He retrieved an empty laundry basket from his room and started to unwrap sets of sheets and remove tags from towels. It was a tight squeeze, but he got everything into the basket and downstairs to the laundry room. Thanks to his high-capacity washer, he got almost everything into one batch, leaving only the puffy comforter for a second load.

He futzed around in the house, double checking his supply of toilet paper, dish detergent, coffee, and other essentials. Made sure his bed was made so that no one else would think he was a slob. Ran the vacuum cleaner and the dishwasher, and even dusted. Still, he was done before the washer sang its happy little I’m-finished tune, which he’d purposely left the basement door open to hear. 

He paused on the top step on his way down to change out the washer and dryer, as the thought occurred to him that Dean might consider his rummaging through his purchases as an invasion of privacy. He hadn’t had any problem with Cas helping him put away his kitchen purchases, but those were decidedly less personal than bedding.  _ Fuck, what if he’s allergic to my detergent or something _ . Not much he could do about it now besides hope that Dean didn’t mind and deal with the fall out if he did. Wouldn’t that be a great way to start out...

While the first batch was drying, he tackled his refrigerator. He didn’t keep much beside coffee creamer, condiments, and sandwich fixings in there, but still, it wouldn’t hurt to get rid of anything that was past its expiration. The shelves probably hadn’t been wiped down in a few months either. He moved to the microwave, scrubbing out the residue of last night’s reheated spaghetti, and finally gave all of the counters a quick once-over before starting a fresh pot of coffee.  _ Might want to slow down on the caffeine if I don’t want to look like a hyperactive chihuahua when all of Dean’s friends show up.  _ Finally, the dryer was buzzing.

He’d always loved folding laundry. The warm fabric always made him feel like he was being hugged, and he’d specifically chosen his detergent and matching fabric softener because it smelled amazing and was supposed to be stress relieving. He wasn’t sure about the second claim, but he loved that it smelled good even after being folded and put away. He stuffed the comforter into the dryer with an extra fabric sheet for good measure and lugged the first laundry basket upstairs. 

He set the spare set of sheets on Dean’s lower dresser and got to work making the bed. He’d splurged on the nice sheets, Cas noticed, and they fit the mattress perfectly, the fitted sheets wrapping under enough so that it was unlikely that they’d pop off the corners, and the flat sheet long enough to tuck in properly. He shook Dean’s new king sized pillows into their cases and fluffed them out before setting them on the bed and stepping back. At this point, the only thing left in the package was the snuggly throw. He unwrapped it and shook it out. The yarn, in various shades of green, was incredibly soft, and he rubbed it against his face for a minute before he shook himself.  _ Not your blankie to cuddle with creeper. _ He arranged it over the back of the arm chair, and wrote himself a note about the brand (so he could maybe get a couple for the living room, and maybe even one for his own room) before he tossed the last of the packaging. 

The comforter took an extra cycle in the dryer to be completely dry, but once it was done, Cas wrestled it onto the bed, taking extra care to make sure that it hung over precisely the same length on each side. He tugged at the corners until they sat in perfect v-shaped duvet corners. He folded one edge of the bedding down, hotel style, replaced the pillows, and stepped back to check his work. 

Now, it was starting to look like a real bedroom.

~~~~~

Dean texted him shortly before 2 to let him know that they were running a little early. He jumped off the couch and ran to switch out the grungy clothes he’d been wearing for house cleaning for a nicer pair of jeans and a dark sweater. Still comfy, but decidedly nicer looking for meeting Dean’s friends. He’d just lit the scented candles in the living room, hoping to make it look a little less sterile than the first time Dean had seen it, when the doorbell rang. He almost dropped the long match on the carpet. Wouldn’t that have been a fucking disaster.

He tossed the match into the metal can by the fireplace and went to the door. There was a giant standing on his front porch. He opened the screen door cautiously.

"Hello?”

“Castiel? I’m Sam Winchester, Dean’s brother. I hope you don’t mind that I’m a little early. I was hoping to get a second to chat before the rest of the gang got here.”

Cas smiled, the lawyer brother with the young sons. He waved Sam in and closed the door behind him before offering his hand to shake. 

“It’s really great to meet you Sam. Dean mentioned you and your family. Will your wife be bringing the boys by later?” Now that he knew, the family resemblance was easier to spot.

“Nah, not today. We figured it be easier to get things done without them underfoot. They’re great, but they like to ‘help’ with everything.” He grinned as Cas took his coat to hang. He’d added a second set of hooks after Dean had mentioned how many people would be coming over. 

“Did you want a cup of coffee while we wait for your brother?” He led Sam into the kitchen, and poured them each a cup when Sam nodded.

“So, I kind of wanted to meet you and have a little chat before Dean got here.” He balanced himself on one of the stools opposite Cas at the island. Cas slid the sugar and creamer his direction. Sam gave him an intense look, and Cas couldn’t really decide if it was meant to be intimidating or if the man was just trying to peer into his soul.

“Listen, I’m going to be straight with you here. Dean thinks you’re a great guy, and Charlie backs him up. Generally, she’s got a pretty good sense for people, but they both barely know you, so we’ll see about that. My brother is an awesome guy. He might come off like just another rough and tumble mechanic, and that’s what he wants you to think, but he’s got a heart of gold. The thing is, sometimes he’s  _ too _ caring. Nice is one thing, but Dean somehow manages to end up in situations where he’s the only responsible adult, and somehow everything falls to him to take care of.” He paused to take a sip of his coffee, seeming to consider his next words.

_ Jesus, is he actually giving me the shovel talk? He realizes we’re just going to be living together, not dating, right? _

“This is a fresh start for Dean, and to be honest, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen him make a decision solely because it was good for him. He basically raised me after my mom died and he hasn’t stopped taking care of people, everyone really, since then. He really needs this. The last time he tried living with somebody, he ended up stuck there for ten years because he didn’t want to leave her kid without a parent. Garth, the son of a friend of our dad’s, didn’t give him a single cent for rent or groceries the entire five years he stayed with Dean. He just gets so caught up in what he thinks are his responsibilities to people that he completely ignores the fact that he’s being taken advantage of. I’m just hoping you don’t turn out to be just another person Dean has to keep upright. I'd hate to have to file suit for breaking your own lease terms. It’s about time he finally got to be happy himself, you know?”

_ Well, I asked for a responsible adult and apparently I got one. _

“Sam, I assure you, I didn’t invite Dean to live here so he could take care of me. I’m almost 40. I’ve been nursing full time at the same hospital for over ten years, going on my fourth year on the oncology ward. I’m halfway to owning my own house, and I can manage the bills, all of them, on my own. I don’t have a cat, let alone a kid for Dean to fuss over. I promise. I just…”  _ How honest do I really want to be? _ Sam was giving him that soul searching look again. “This is a really big house and I just got tired of being alone all the time, you know?”

Sam nodded, his intense stare morphing into a wide smile. “Good. Dean could use a little social in his life. I think he spends all of his free time cleaning up other people’s messes.” He cocked his head. “I think I hear the Impala.”

They headed out through the garage to open the door so Dean could pull in. He watched from the door as Sam greeted his brother and Charlie warmly. Charlie looked even smaller next to Sam as they started to unload groceries from the trunk while Dean came over to greet him. 

“See you already met my brother.”

Cas leaned in so he could speak quietly to Dean. “Indeed. He gave me the lawyer to housemate version of the hurt him and I’ll kill you speech. It was quite touching.” He grinned when Dean let out a startled laugh.   
  
“Oh my God, he didn’t! Please tell me he didn’t. Ignore everything he says.”   
  
Charlie interrupted them, preventing him from having to come up with a good response. “Hey! What are you guys whispering about? Get over here and help with the groceries.”

The next hour was chaos. Dean, Sam, and Charlie put the groceries away while Cas basically stood in the entryway to greet the constant flow of arrivals. “Might as well meet them as they get here.” Dean had said when Cas had volunteered to help with the groceries so Dean could man the door.

The first guest to arrive was Dean’s Uncle Bobby. It took about thirty seconds for Cas to figure out that he was more of a father figure than an uncle. Cas noticed the little rainbow ribbon enamel pin on the lapel of his coat as he hung it up. He shook Cas’ hand firmly.

“My, you’re a good looking fellow. Always knew my Dean had good taste. He says you’re a cancer nurse?” 

“Yes sir. I’ve been working on the oncology ward for a little over three years now.”

Bobby nodded. “Takes a good person to care for families who’re going through that. My Karen went that way, and it’s shit the whole time. People like you taking care of her, that’s what got me through.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine surviving something like that. I see a lot of good people fall apart when they lose their spouse, especially to cancer. It’s not usually quick or merciful.”

Bobby put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Been a while, and it still ain’t easy. I’ll tell you what though. Never woulda made it if it weren’t for that boy in there. He took care of my house and the shop and me every chance he got, even though he was busy trying to get his brother through the last couple years of high school at the time. Good match for a cancer nurse if you ask me.” Bobby released him and moved to the kitchen.  _ What the hell did Dean tell his family about moving in here? _

He didn’t have time to think about it though, because the doorbell was ringing again. He could hear Bobby cursing about the volume from the kitchen. Dean had already promised to look at it when it had rung the first time.

Two beautiful women waited with full arms when he opened the door. He pushed open the screen. “Can I take anything?”

“Nah, we’ll dump it in the kitchen and come back to take off our coats.” 

"I'll just...wait here then." They returned momentarily, pulling of their coats as they approached. When he turned from hanging them up, he was rather ably trapped in the corner.

The one with the brunette boy cut stuck out her hand, and Cas shook it carefully. “Sheriff Jody Mills.” She nodded at her partner who also offered her hand. “This is Sergeant Donna Hascum.” The blonde was eyeing him like he’d done something horrible. “We just wanted you to know that we intend to do a full investigation into your background.” Donna nodded.

“No problem. I don’t suspect you’ll find much. I’ve never been much for breaking the rules, and I pretty much keep to myself.” The two softened as soon as he indicated that he wouldn’t mind if they looked into him.  _ I did the same thing to Dean _ . Not that he planned to tell these mother bears that.

“Good, good. Just want to make sure our Dean is in a safe place.” Donna patted his shoulder. “I’m sure you’re as nice as Charlie says, but it never hurts to do our homework. That last girl…” She trailed off. Cas was starting to wonder what  _ Charlie _ had told their family about Dean moving in with him.

“No need to bring Lisa into this. Dean finally put her behind him, so let’s do the same.” Jody said it matter of factly. Lisa, he was guessing, was the infamous ten-year terrible that everyone seemed bound to mention.

“Yes, well, do you mind if we use the kitchen? I made Dean’s favorite lasagna, but I didn’t bake it yet. It needs to be in the oven for at least an hour. And there’s breadsticks too.”

“Of course, make yourself at home. I can’t cook for shit,” he cringed at his own language, but kept going, “but Dean made sure the kitchen was up to his standards. I couldn’t imagine needing 24 dinner plates, but I’m glad he insisted now. I can’t imagine trying to eat lasagna off of paper.”

“Don’t you worry, we’ll clean up when we’re done. Don’t want to leave you with a mess after our first visit or you’ll never have us over again.”

“No worry at all. We have a dishwasher.” He grinned at them, and they smiled back. He was suddenly really thankful for having run the dishwasher this morning.  

“Well isn’t that nice sweetie.” Jody patted him on the cheek. “You and Dean won’t have to fight over who’s gonna do the dishes.” She shot a look at Donna that Cas was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to notice, that looked like it might be a continuation of an earlier argument.

“Jody, you know it was your turn. You said if I did the prep, you’d clean up. There really weren’t all that many dishes considering we’re cooking for a dozen people.” Apparently, they’d decided to pick that argument back up as they walked away.

The next guests, thankfully, knocked. The couple stepped in without waiting for him to answer the door.

“My apologies. We’re running a bit behind, and I know how crazy it can get when the whole crew gets together.” The tall dark haired man was helping the stunning redhead with her coat. “Though, it looks like we’ve beaten Benny and Andrea anyway. Oh, where are my manners? Arthur Ketch, my friends call me Art. This lovely witch is Rowena.” She shot Art an evil look. They held out their hands to shake, and Cas finally got a word in.

“Castiel Novak, pleasure to meet you. Everyone is in the kitchen if you’d like to join them.”

“Thanks for having us all over right off the bat. And sorry again for letting ourselves in.” 

They were moving toward the kitchen without waiting for a response, so Cas just waved it off. “No problem.”

He’d just turned around when the bell rang again, causing another round of cursing and laughter from the kitchen. Cas pulled the door open quickly so there would be no urge to ring again. He greeted the last couple with a wide smile. He’d heard a little about Benny and Andrea from both Dean and Charlie.

Benny grabbed his hand to shake and pulled him closer to slap him on the shoulder. “I’m Benny and this is Andrea. We’re glad to meet you.” He was no sooner released than Andrea was hugging him. He smiled at them, a little at a loss, while they hung up their coats. “Not cold enough out there to keep them on for the little bit of hauling we have to do.”

“I’m Cas.”  _ Duh, they obviously know that _ . He couldn’t really figure out what to say. Charlie had called Benny Dean’s ‘brother from another mother’ and he desperately wanted to make a better impression than he had managed to with Sam.

Both Benny and Andrea smiled at him. “You have a beautiful home. I can see why Dean was so eager to move in.” Andrea spoke softly.

“Certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s so close to work and has a nice heated garage for his Baby.” Benny added as Cas led them to the kitchen.

While everyone greeted the final couple and went to grab boxes from the truck, Cas pulled Dean aside and tugged him down the hallway to his room. In the rush of people, he hadn’t had a chance to talk to Dean alone. “I wanted to show you something quick, but I haven’t had a minute.”

Dean stopped dead in the doorway to his room. 

“How?” Dean had turned to face him, looking a little stunned. Cas couldn’t tell what he thought of it. _Shit. Should have just left it._

“Well, the delivery guys actually did the heavy lifting. I arranged for them to to the assembly right at the store as kind of a housewarming present. The rest was as easy as a few batches of laundry. I figured the last thing you’d want to do today was have to deal with laundry before you could grab a shower and hit the sack.” He was wrapped in Dean’s arms by the time he’d finished talking.  _ Damn he smells good. How does he smell so good after hauling boxes and cleaning all day? _

“You are awesome!” Dean released him suddenly and took a step back. “Umm, sorry, I-”

He cut the apology off with a laugh. “Never apologize for a hug. I’m just glad you’re OK with it. It wasn’t until I had everything in the washer that I realized that you might freak out about me going through your stuff.” He shrugged.

“No man, this is perfect. At this rate, we’ll be done in no time.”

Dean wasn’t wrong. Even with Donna a Jody having taken over the kitchen with Bobby to keep them company, they had everything squared away within the hour. Cas had never seen so many boxes unpacked so quickly, and he couldn’t hide the awe that he felt at Dean’s ability to direct so many people at once without anyone ever having taken offense. He’d heard how nice Dean could be, but it was clear as well that he’d earned the respect and love of those closest to him.

~~~~~

They sat around the living room and ate and talked, and Cas loved it. Dean’s family was full of stories of Dean growing up. 

Sam told them about the time when Dean was teaching him to shoot, and Sam had been so afraid of the recoil that he’d ended up shooting the window of the Impala because he had his eyes squeezed tight shut when he fired. Dean had taken the blame with Bobby and had to pay for the repair by working extra hours at the shop. 

“Knew it the whole time,” Bobby chuckled, “but it was damned fun making sure to schedule Dean every time he had a date with that Bela bitch he was dating at the time.”

Then, Sam was talking about Dean as a young adult, trying hard to be a good Dad to Sam. “I’d had a miserable day at school, and he didn’t want me to sit at home alone and wallow, but he didn’t want to cancel on the poor girl either, so he took me out with him on his date and we wound up at the playground. It’s really one of my best memories of high school, though I could have done without the ten minute kiss good night while I waited in the car.” Dean blushed adorably and hid his head with a throw pillow.

Benny told them about the time Dean had challenged him to a race with oil changes when they’d gotten two identical cars in the shop one day. Dean had been a little enthusiastic in his rush to drain the oil and had ended up wearing most of it, but he’d just wiped off his safety glasses and kept going, beating Benny by a solid three minutes. “He was covered in oil when the lady showed up for her car, and she looked like she was going to panic, but he just rang her up like it was nothing out of the ordinary and told her to have a good day. I don’t think she ever came back.”

Charlie, not to be out done, reminded them how, less than a week after she’d been hired, she’d texted him from The Worst Date Ever, begging for a rescue because none of her friends were answering, and her brand new manager had rushed into the restaurant pretending to be her brother and needing her for a family emergency that desperately needed her attention. “He didn’t even make anything up, just said there’s a family emergency Sis, and we really need your help. I’m pretty sure she saw right through it, but I honestly didn’t care, I just wanted to be out of there, so I paid for our dinner and left with him. Best boss ever, right from the start.”

Jody and Donna pitched in to tell them how Dean had gotten hauled into Jody’s station for being parked on the side of the road because he was supposed to pick Garth up, but Garth was a no show and the officer figured he was trying to make a drug deal or something. “So he asked them if he could talk to me, and they told him no. It isn’t standard procedure to let detainees talk to the sheriff, but they radioed me anyway. I walk in and he’s sitting there, cuffed to the desk for no good reason, looking like a lost little kid.” Jody had called Donna, after teasing Dean mercilessly, to come pick him up and bring him back to the Impala before it got towed. Better believe that officer got a good reminder about acceptable reasons for detaining a suspect as well.

They were funny stories, yes, but Cas understood what they were telling him. Each told of the man who always put his friends before himself.  This was Dean. He was smart and kind and he would bend over backward for you, but they’d bend over backward to make sure he was happy too.

Cas noticed that there were no stories of Dean’s parents, though Bobby had told Cas that Mary had died shortly after Dean had turned 5. “John, their daddy, kinda lost his shit after that. Couldn’t be bothered to put down the bottle long enough to remember how to be a father without his wife there to remind him. Worked out alright though, didn't it. Dean did a damned find job with Sammy.” Sam had mentioned it earlier, but he definitely hadn't mentioned that Dean was five fucking years old when he basically took over as parent. From what he'd learned about Sam though, Cas had to agree, Dean had done a damned fine job. In fact, it seemed Dean did a damned find job with just about anything he set out to do.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas gets an unexpectedly pleasant view over laundry, an introduction to more of Dean's family, and another warning to be good to Dean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- Currently, I'm aiming for about 2-3 posts per week, probably split between this and Life Changes, but I'm headed to Dubai at the end of the month, so we'll see how that goes.  
> \- In case you missed it, this is the Cas version of the Life Changes story, and I personally think they’re better read together.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Cas had grabbed a cup of coffee and was heading to the den to work on the bills when he heard cursing from the basement.  _ Shit. I really hope the washer isn’t flooding the basement again. _ Fergus had somehow managed to overload the high capacity machine, and it had been a nightmare to get it cleaned up. The mats under the exercise equipment were great when you were working out, but they sucked up water like a sponge. He’d actually had to hire a company to bring in giant dehumidifiers to get everything dry again.

The sight that greeted him from the bottom of the steps was definitely not a nightmare. Dean was arched into what looked like it was supposed to be a bridge pose, and Cas had the perfect view of the thick muscles of his thighs and abdomen, not to mention his prominent bulge. Cas padded closer,  _ not a nightmare at all.  _ Well, for him at least, Dean looked like he was about to break his neck trying to see the TV. When Cas stopped moving toward him, Dean dropped back onto the floor. He really wasn’t sure what to say, but he didn’t want to let Dean get hurt trying to do yoga from a video, that much he knew. He shut off the TV.

“Ummm…” Dean looked as uncertain as Cas felt.

“If you’re really thinking about starting to practice yoga, that video sucks. It’s way easier with a partner until you feel comfortable with the poses.” He dropped his coffee back off in the laundry room, noting that the washer was running perfectly well, and moved back over to Dean. “I mean, if you don’t mind me helping. I’m not a yoga instructor, and I can’t keep up the running dialogue, but I can help you learn a solid sun salutation and some other basic poses if you want.”  _ Way to make assumptions Novak, maybe he was happy being left alone. _

“No, I mean, that would be great, I definitely don’t mind, and that video was almost impossible to follow. How are you supposed to do the poses and watch it at the same time anyway?”   
  
“I’m not really sure. I took yoga classes for a few years, so I had a decent understanding of the poses and transitions before I started practicing at home. Usually, I just work through my own flow of poses, but sometimes I add or subtract depending on where I’m feeling tight.”  _ Like your abs. Shut UP dumbass. Not the time to be thinking about those glorious muscles. _

Dean had stood to talk to him, and Cas guided him back to the Mountain pose, the opening pose of the Sun salutation. He probably could have talked him through the whole thing, but it was way more fun to guide his motions and correct his poses with touch. He was careful to keep it professional, he had plenty of practice with that, but still, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy getting to put his hands on Dean’s firm body. He was suddenly glad that he was wearing baggy pajama bottoms instead of the compression tights he normally wore when he came down to practice or work out. At least in these pants, it was a little easier to hide the interest his dick was starting to show. He focused on any gross thought he could think of. In a minute, it wouldn’t matter what he was wearing. There was absolutely no way to hide an erection in the corpse pose. Thankfully, Dean was actually focusing on the pose, and not on Cas, so he didn’t notice that Cas’ body wasn’t cooperating.

~~~~~

He settled into a stool at the island to watch Dean cook. He’d claimed to be a novice, but watching him skillfully chop vegetables and whip eggs belied that.

Tasting the fluffy vegetable omelette, gooey with cheese, had him groaning out loud. “I thought you said you couldn’t cook.”

“I said I don’t cook much. Omelettes are easy, and they’re fast, so they’re pretty much the perfect food when you’re trying to balance a really tight morning schedule and a hungry kid. Most of what I can cook falls into the kid-friendly category actually.”

Cas nodded, remembering that Dean had essentially raised two boys. “Still, my breakfast repertoire is limited to over cooked scrambled eggs, lumpy oatmeal, and cold cereal. This is awesome.”

“Butter.” It was mumbled around a mouthful of food, and Cas had no clue what he was supposed to make of it.

“Butter?”

“Yup. If you put a little butter in your oatmeal, it won’t get lumpy. You can get a kid to eat oatmeal with enough brown sugar or maple syrup or fruit, but there’s no way in Hell they’ll take more than two bites if it’s lumpy.”

“Huh.”

“Like I said. I can cook for kids, it’s feeding myself real food that’s the problem. And it just seems like so much effort to cook just for myself. I like cooking, following a recipe and trying new foods and stuff, but it seems like such a waste just for me.”

“Well, I’m always willing to eat leftovers. It’s gotta beat lunch meat.”

“I don’t know if I’d say that. With new recipes you never really know what you’re going to get.”

Cas just shrugged. 

When they’d cleaned up the breakfast mess, they went their separate ways, Dean to finish his laundry and spend some time on the treadmill and Cas to tackle the bills he’d intended to work on this morning. It wasn’t a huge task, just about everything was auto-pay, but he still liked to balance his checking account every week, just to make sure he didn’t miss anything. After a great morning, even his least favorite task didn’t seem all that daunting.

~~~~~

They hung out on the couch, half sleeping and half watching the Food Network, for most of the afternoon. Cas got his laundry taken care of in the process, and he couldn’t help thinking about how much Fergus had hated lazy Saturdays like this. Dean seemed perfectly content just...being here.

When dinner time rolled around, Dean rolled his head in Cas’ direction. “So, you ready to move off the couch?”

Cas grunted. He supposed they should probably figure out dinner. “Pizza?”

“Actually, I was thinking we could hit the Roadhouse. The lady that owns it, Ellen, and her daughter Jo are kinda like family. They couldn’t make it to the moving party housewarming thing because they’re always working on Saturdays, but she’d like to meet you. Plus, Charlie’s usually there, and sometimes Benny and Andrea.”

“Oh, if it’s a thing you normally do with friends, I can just order pizza.”

“Dude, did you miss the part where I said Ellen wanted to meet you? Besides, you know all my friends, and they like you. Charlie actually mentioned you tagging along. They never wanted Lisa there. It’s kinda nice to live with somebody my friends don’t hate for once.”

“Am I going to get another shovel talk?”

Dean laughed. “Can’t guarantee you won’t. Ellen’s pretty protective of her brood. Still, the burgers are totally worth it.”

“OK, fine, you said the magic word. I’m in. Let me go put some real clothes on.” They’d both been lounging around in pajamas.

“Ten minutes or I’m leaving without you.”

Cas hustled to his room to change.

~~~~~

The Roadhouse was packed, which wasn’t surprising. It had a good reputation for serving the best burgers in the county. Cas had never actually been here, though he’d heard about it often. It wasn’t a place that Fergus had been interested in going, not fancy enough, and Cas had never really been a fan of dining out alone.

Charlie had commandeered a corner booth and waved them over.

“Good thing she’s here or we’d be waiting forever.”

“Nah, Ellen keeps that booth reserved for us. If there’s a bunch of us, she lets us steal a table too. She has no problems telling customers that this is a family establishment, and here that means family gets served first.” Dean grinned at him.

They slid into the booth opposite Charlie, who immediately started talking a mile a minute about the cute new waitress at the diner by her house who slipped her her phone number with the bill for breakfast and who had a tattoo of Wonder Woman on her arm that Charlie thought was way better than her Dungeons and Dragons Star Wars tattoo, but what can you do, it was Comic-Con? By the time she’d stopped to take a breath, the server was at their table to take their order.

“You having the usual Winchester?”

“Cas, this is Jo Harvelle. Jo, this is Cas. And yes, the usual.”

Her hands were full, so he didn’t offer to shake, “Pleasure to meet you. If his usual involves a burger, fries, and beer, I’ll have the same.”

Jo laughed. “Yup, you’ll fit right in.” She flipped her pad closed and walked away.

Cas turned to Charlie, who’d been abnormally silent throughout the exchange, to find her blushing beet red. “Did you already order?” She just shook her head.

Dean laughed. “See, Charlie has this problem. Whenever there’s a girl around that she really likes, she forgets how to speak English. The most I’ve ever heard her get out around Jo is ‘yes’ and ‘thanks’. After a couple of weeks, Jo just started to bring her the same thing the rest of us get instead of watching her try to mumble her way through an actual order.”

“She’s so pretty!” Charlie burst out, then immediately covered her mouth and blushed some more.

Cas joined Dean in his renewed laughter. For someone who’d introduced herself to him via full body contact to be so shy in the presence of a ‘pretty’ girl was more than a little adorable.

Charlie recovered about a minute after Jo brought out their food, which was way sooner than Cas had expected. “Ellen pretty much puts our food on as soon as we walk in. We always order the same thing. She must figure since you showed up with Dean, you’d order what he did, since it’s the best thing on the menu and he tells everyone that. He didn’t even have to tell you actually, you just asked for what he was having. You’ve only lived together for a week, and you already know his tastes? I thought you worked all the time.”

She went back to her discussion about her proposed next tattoo as if there’d been no interruption. Dean just caught his eye and grinned.

Ellen, who turned out to be an older but equally beautiful version of her daughter, showed up at her table just as Cas had taken a giant bite of his burger. Dean hadn’t been kidding, these things were good. They were also huge. He was pretty sure there was a blob of ketchup on his chin, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

Dean reached over with his napkin and caught the mess before it managed to hit his shirt, and Cas shot him a grateful glance while frantically trying to chew so he could greet the woman properly.

Ellen just laughed at him. “No need to rush. It’s a complement to the chef that you’ve got your mouth full of food. I’d be worried if I came over here and your burger was just sittin’ there. You must be Cas. Heard all kinds of good things about you.”

She slapped him on the shoulder, but didn’t wait for him to reply. “Dean, you tell me if he doesn’t take good care of you. I’ll stop feeding him.”

Dean flushed, but with his mouth equally full, there wasn’t much he could do in terms of a response.

“I expect to see you boys here for dinner Saturdays. Dean, I’ll make an exception last week, because of the move and all, but just call if you can’t make it. You know I worry ‘bout you.”

“Yes ma’am. I did tell Jo about the moving thing, but she said you guys were short staffed last weekend. Next time I’ll plan farther ahead. I promise.”

Ellen nodded. “Good boy. Enjoy your dinners. Good to see you Charlie.”

Charlie wiggled her fingers and grinned around her own bite of food, and Ellen ducked back into the kitchen.

Cas didn’t bother to ask Dean why his family seemed to think they were an item. It really wasn’t worth putting down his burger for anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On case you missed it, this is Cas' side of the Life Changes story. They should be fine read separately, but I think they're kinda like peanut butter and jelly, better together. 
> 
> Thanks for reading. You're comments make my day!
> 
> P.S. Charlie!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unfiltered smut. Skip if you're not into that, because it really won't harm the plot if you do. But, on the other hand, if you'd like to see Cas getting himself off in the shower, definitely keep reading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this one is for the prompt Masturbation (I8).  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- Currently, I'm aiming for about 2-3 posts per week, probably split between this and Life Changes, but I'm headed to Dubai at the end of the month, so we'll see how that goes.  
> \- In case you missed it, this is the Cas version of the Life Changes story, and I personally think they’re better read together.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Cas yawned as he locked the door behind him. It had been a grueling shift. Zachariah had managed to have  _ every single one _ of his patients in an absolutely foul mood by the time Cas arrived. Amber had been blunt in telling him that she tried to put him after Zach specifically because he was so good at undoing all the shit he’d done during his shift. He sighed as he hung up his coat and toed off his orthopedic clogs.  _ Why the hell doesn’t she just fire him? _ He knew there were procedures for such things but god, didn’t he have enough black marks against him yet?

He headed toward the hall, but stopped when he noticed that the basement door was slightly opened. He checked to be sure that the light was off before pushing it closed, his mind taking a quick left turn from the previous dozen hours to the memory of Dean’s tone body arched into the bridge pose.  _ Jesus Christ, he definitely doesn’t need to work out more. _ He understood the difference between a body toned from work and one fit from regular physical activities, he was a nurse for god's sake, but all he could think about was Dean’s lean stomach arched up, and that bulge. 

His brain was actively creating images of all of the poses he’d like to see Dean in. Better yet, guide him into. The feel of all of that muscle under his hands had been...yup. He shucked his scrubs quickly and tossed them into the hamper before grabbing pajamas and heading down the hall to the shower in his boxers. Why bother with a robe when Dean was sleeping and likely had been for hours?

The thought of Dean, only feet away, had him quickening his pace. Between proximity and the creative playback currently being provided by his imagination, he could feel his body responding. At this rate, he’d have to put in some effort to actually get himself clean  _ before _ getting himself off.

His shower was a godsend. On nights like tonight, when his whole body seemed to ache, he liked to turn on the jets instead of the rainfall head, so the water pressure would soothe his muscles. He rubbed himself down with body wash, top to toe, while he imagined someone else’s callused hands in place of his own. He gripped the base of his cock firmly.  _ You’re officially slipping into creeper territory man. There’s got to be some kind of rule against fantasizing about your roommate like this. _

His dick didn’t seem to care about rules.

He shampooed his hair quickly, and ran his fingers through it to make sure it was rinsed before letting his hands wander. One settled on a nipple, just gently rubbing back and forth, his arm creating light pressure across his chest. In his mind, it became Dean’s arm, wrapped around from behind. His other hand, no,  _ Dean’s _ other hand, traced a path down to his impatient prick. His head tipped back when he finally hit his mark, and he suddenly had a face full of water.  _ Argh. _ He stepped out of the spray and let his shoulders rest on the cool tile, his mind supplying an image of his shoulder blades resting on Dean’s smooth chest.  _ Yeah, that’ll work. _ Evidently, he’d given up on not actively dragging Dean into this shower with him.  _ Fuck it, he’ll never know. Maybe I just need to work him out of my system. _

With that particular piece of logic in place, he wrapped his hand back around his dick and picked up his pace.  _ Yes, just like that. _ Just the right amount of pressure to have his back arching slightly, then a quick brush of his palm across the head of his dick. He heard his quiet moan echo in the stall and dragged his lip into his teeth to shut himself up. The last thing he needed was for Dean to hear him groaning and come to check on him. 

The thought of Dean watching him in the shower had his arm moving faster. He pinched his nipple slightly and grunted at the pleasure pain. 

His eyes were squeezed tight, enjoying the internal view of Dean’s arms wrapped around him, jacking him just right. His grip tightened again, and Dean was focusing on that perfect spot just under the head of his cock, working it with quick little strokes, and he thrust into them slightly. One more flick of his nipple and his whole body seized up.  _ Dean! _ His groan echoed harshly around him in the humid air as he gentled his grip to stroke himself through the high. He couldn’t actually remember the last time he’d come so hard.

It didn’t take long for his softening dick to get oversensitive, so he released his light hold and stood up.  _ Jesus Christ I came on the fucking door. _ He splashed water over the slowly growing streak until it disappeared, and turned on the over head spray to help clear away the rest of the evidence before rinsing himself and shutting off the water. He squeegeed the door carefully, praying his cum wouldn’t harm the effectiveness of the anti-fog treatment, and stepped out onto the bathmat to dry himself off.

The house seemed extra silent now, without the rush of water surrounding him, and he was suddenly struck by the fact that he’d called out Dean’s name when he’d cum.  _ Please, please, please, whoever is listening, please let that have just been in my head. _

He pulled on his pajamas, hung up his towel, collected his boxers, and tiptoed to his room. Thankfully, there was no sound from Dean’s room to indicate that he’d woken the man up with his illicit shower session. He dumped his boxers in the hamper and crawled into bed, snuggling down into his bedding. He felt like a puddle, not one sore muscle left to keep him awake.

_ But don’t I fall to sleep so much easier, sleep so much better, now that he’s here? _ The errant thought wasn’t enough to keep him awake, not that the Dean induced orgasm had hurt at all in that regard...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. Hot boy in the shower.
> 
> I panic every time I post smut because I'm positive by the time I've reread it ten times, that it cheesy and forced. Kudos and comments much appreciated cause I'm always in need of the reassurance, and you guys are great about that.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His new housemate is turning 40, and that definitely merits a birthday party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- Currently, I'm aiming for about 2-3 posts per week, probably split between this and Life Changes, but I'm headed to Dubai at the end of the month, so we'll see how that goes.  
> \- In case you missed it, this is the Cas version of the Life Changes story, and I personally think they’re better read together.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Cas texted Charlie Saturday night, as soon as they got home from the Roadhouse. By his count, he had exactly one week to pull something together for Dean’s birthday if his best friend wasn’t already on top of it. Dean’s actual birthday was Thursday, but there was no way he could get out of work at this point, and it was unlikely that everyone else could swing the short notice weekday event either. Most of Dean’s family would be working the next day.

Charlie was quick to offer assistance, which Cas declined, other than asking for phone numbers. He did concede that she could talk to Benny and Art at work, not only to give her something to do, but also because he wasn’t comfortable calling the guys out of the blue at this point. The rest of Dean’s family had made a point of welcoming him, if only by threatening him and treating him like Dean’s new boyfriend, but the men from his shop had been a lot less immediately involved.

Sunday morning, while Dean is involved in...whatever he was doing in the kitchen (Cas can’t really tell, but it seems to involve just about every cooking appliance they own), Cas locked himself in his room and started making phone calls. He called Bobby first, which turned out to be a wise decision. In addition to the fact that he offered to make sure that Ellen and Jo made it to the event this time, he turned out to be a wellspring of information. Like the fact that while Dean would eat cake, just like anybody, he  _ really _ loved pie, and wouldn’t it be neat if Cas could get him a birthday  _ pie  _ instead of a birthday cake. Bobby also mentioned, almost as an afterthought that he was pretty sure that Dean hadn’t actually had a birthday party since his mom had passed, at first because there wasn’t really anyone to organize it for him, and later because he just didn’t see the point. He assured Cas that Dean would like the party once he realized that people like to get together and a birthday is a great reason, but he did warn that Dean would  _ not _ like getting gifts. That, he said, was a general rule, and one he should take care with at Christmas. That little tidbit threw Cas into a completely different panic because he hadn’t even considered how they would handle Christmas yet.  _ Let it go Novak. You’ve got eleven months to get that squared away. Right now, we’ve got to focus on his birthday. _ With a final assurance from Bobby that everyone Cas invited would certainly show up, because  _ It’s Dean _ , regardless of the short notice, they ended the call.

Rather than moving down the list of invitees as he’d intended, Cas’ next call was to his brother Gabriel.

“Sweet Love, this is Gabriel, how can I sweeten your day?”

“Jesus Gabriel, are you still making everyone say that when they answer the phone?”

“Yup. The customers love it.”

“It’s corny, even for you.”

“Cassie, did you call just to insult the way I run my bakery or did you need something?

“Actually, I kind of need a favor.”

“Maybe you should have started the conversation a little differently then.” Gabriel hung up on him. Cas looked at his phone to confirm. Yes, the call had ended. He dialed the number again. Cas got the point.

“Sweet Love, this is Gabriel, how can I sweeten your day?”

“Gabriel, how’s my favorite brother and the owner of my absolute favorite bakery doing today?” Cas could lay it on thick if that’s what his brother needed.

“Cassie, it’s been ages since I talked to you! Well, the bakery is doing great! That new office building across the street has pretty much doubled my income, and we added another cappuccino machine to keep up. How are you?”

“I’m great Gabriel, listen, I’ve actually got a really big favor to ask of you. I wouldn’t normally call on such short notice, but...well, I need a birthday pie for a friend. My housemate actually?”

“You’ve got a guy living with you? Cas, it’s only been a few weeks since I talked to you, and you weren’t even seeing anybody at the time. Don’t you think it’s a little fast to have him move in? After Fergus-”

Cas cut him off before he could finish  _ that _ thought. “He’s just my housemate Gabe, not my boyfriend, and he only moved in a week ago.”

“And you want to order a birthday  _ pie _ for him? Not a cake? Why are you in charge of that anyway? Shouldn’t one of his friends be doing it?”

“He really likes pie.” He ignored the rest of Gabriel’s questions. 

“What kind?”

“Ummm, well, he likes all of them. He’s got a soft spot for apple and cherry, he loves coconut cream and chocolate silk, but really, he loves all of them.”

“First, I’m not going to ask how you know the guys pie preference in such detail after one week. We’ll just pretend that’s normal housemate knowledge.” His tone was downright smug, as if he’d caught Cas in a massive lie. “Second, I’m going to be the best brother ever, and make you look like a total rockstar. How about, instead of doing just one normal pie, I do an assortment of mini pies? How many people are going to be there?”

Cas counted his list quickly. “Fourteen adults and two kids.”

“They the eating type or the food is for looking pretty type?”

“Definitely the eating type.” Cas thought about the amount of food they’d packed away at the housewarming last weekend.

“OK, so, I’ll prepare a nice selection of cute little pies, and when you pick them up, I’ll lend you a stand for them. I’ll focus on the favorite four, but I might throw a bonus or two in there as well. Never hurts to have leftovers, and I’m sure your pie lover will know how to store them. When’s this thing happening?”

“Well, that’s the thing that makes this a massive favor, it’s next Saturday about dinner time.”

“Jesus Cassie.” He could hear Gabriel blow out a quick breath. “OK, so you’ll pick them up on Saturday morning. I’ll call you when everything’s boxed up and ready. But Cassie, I want to meet this guy. Anyone who has you putting in this much effort isn’t likely to be  _ just a housemate _ for very long. Your track record with men isn’t the greatest, I just want to be sure we don’t have another philandering Fergus on our hands.”

“Yes, fine, thank you so much Gabe. I owe you.”

“Damned right you do. Now, I’m hanging up, apparently, I’ve got a bunch of pie recipes to miniaturize. Love you Cas.”

“Love you too Gabe.” The call was cut before he even said goodbye.

So, the birthday pie was handled, and, he’d thought of the perfect  _ not _ gift that he could encourage people to bring that he hoped would meet Dean’s approval.

After Bobby and Gabriel, the rest of the calls seemed easy. Jody and Donna volunteered to cook, but Cas assured them that pizza would be fine, as they were supposed to be having a movie night anyway. 

Sam wanted to know if they should bring activities to keep the boys occupied, and after a quick rundown of what they already had at the house, he was relieved that they’d only have to manage to get the boys out of the house and not also a toy box.

He texted Charlie again, only to immediately have her call him, her excitement apparent. He filled her in on the new details, and recruited her as a distraction so he could run to the store for beer and pick up the pies. She ended the call with “This is going to be SOOO AWESOME!” followed by a high pitched almost squealing sound he couldn’t even begin to mimic, but that somehow captured his own mood perfectly. Now, the only thing he had to do was pick up his own part of the gift he had in mind, and most of his prep would be done. 

_ That was somehow much easier than I thought it would be. _

~~~~~

_ I can’t believe we pulled it off. _

Dean looked, well, right at the moment he looked like he was trying to choke back tears, but he was definitely happy. It had taking some convincing to get Dean’s family to bring photos instead of gifts, but clearly, it was the right decision. Cas would never have guessed that the little pile of frames, not even wrapped, could please someone so much. Fergus had demanded lavish dinners and expensive clothing for each gift giving holiday. Dean was thrilled to have pizza, pie, and his family.

And what a family. Cas picked up the t-shirt he’d been gifted. He’d only just met Bobby, but the man had seen to it that he’d been included in what was clearly a big family moment. Cas didn’t doubt how much the change of name to the shop meant to Dean. He’d donned his sweatshirt immediately, despite the fact that the room was overly warm with so many bodies.

And that was the thing. That little word, family, meant so much to Dean. He’d sacrificed so much of himself for his family, without a second thought, or even really considering it to be a sacrifice. That was just Dean. Cas didn’t understand what he’d done to deserve a spot in Dean’s circle, but he sent a quick prayer of thanks to whoever was listening, because Dean just made his world a little bit brighter every day. He hoped the little assortment of pies he'd tucked away in the garage had the same effect on his housemate tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cas knows Dean isn't the type to make a big deal of his birthday, but 40 is a milestone! (And of course Bobby is an awesome uncle and clues him in on how to make it perfect.)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas gets roped into a blind date, but Dean has an idea that just might make it suck less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- Currently, I'm aiming for about 2-3 posts per week, probably split between this and Life Changes, but I'm headed to Dubai at the end of the month, so we'll see how that goes.  
> \- In case you missed it, this is the Cas version of the Life Changes story, and I personally think they’re better read together.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Every day for the last two weeks, Amber has mentioned her brother. At first, It was just a casual thing in passing, “You know, my brother Gage just graduated from culinary school.” when Cas mentioned the amazing breakfast Dean had made on Saturday. Somehow she’d managed to bring him in every conversation they’d had since. Really, Cas should have guessed where this was going, but he’d had other things (or another person) occupying his thoughts lately, and he’d pretty much brushed it off.

Until yesterday, when she’d outright told him that he should definitely meet him, like for a date. 

“If you aren’t dating Dean, which I’m just going to take your word for even though you talk about him constantly and he cooks for you and you threw him that birthday party...I mean, maybe you  _ should  _ be dating Dean, but if you aren’t, you should definitely meet Gage. I think you guys would be really compatible. Besides, what could it hurt?”

And he’d given her his standard line, the same one he used when Gabe tried to set him up: “I’m not really looking for a relationship right now Amber. I’m happy where I’m at.”

She’d given him a disbelieving look, but had seemed to let it go. He hadn’t heard anything more about Gage for the rest of her shift. Although, looking back, that may have been because he’d been in patient rooms for the rest of her shift, so they didn’t actually talk.

He was just glad it was Thursday, so he’d at least have a few days off before she could start harping again. He was exhausted, zombie walked through a quick shower, and went to bed.

He woke up on Friday to a text message from Amber.

> **I hope you don’t mind, I gave your number to Gage and told him you’d be calling. I know you’re not looking for a relationship, but you can at least have a nice night out, right?**

She’d included his number.

_ Fuck _ . 

Aside from the gross invasion of his privacy (she only had his number because she sometimes needed to call him to ask him to change shifts in an emergency), it showed blatant disregard for his sincere disinterest. He  _ really _ had no desire to go out with some random guy just because someone he knew professionally thought they were compatible. 

Now, though, Gage would be expecting him to call. 

By the time Dean got home that night, Cas was firmly entrenched on the couch, watching Dr. Sexy reruns on Netflix and working his way through a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Dean barely had his coat and shoes off before he was next to Cas.

“So, either you got canned and didn’t wake me up to tell me last night, or you’ve got guy trouble.” Dean took the tumbler from his hand and downed the tail end of his drink.

Cas took it back and refilled it before answering. “Amber, my charge nurse, thinks I’d be ‘really compatible’ with her brother, so she gave him my number and told him to expect my call.”

“Oh. That’s…”

“Shitty? Fucked up? Completely out of bounds for a supervisor? Yes.”

“And you told her you weren’t interested?”

“Yes. In fact, I told her I wasn’t looking for a relationship at all.”

“Ahh.” Dean nodded his head, but he had adopted a slightly pained expression.

“Ahh what?”

“It's just, in my experience, people who are in a happy relationship are desperate for  _ everyone _ to be in a happy relationship. So, when they hear that you aren’t looking, it’s like issuing a challenge. At that point, they’re like, honor bound to be the one to find you that perfect match.”

“Jesus Christ.” He took a slug of his drink and passed it to Dean.

“Yup. But, I think we can make this work to our advantage.”

“What?” Either he was far drunker than he thought, or Dean had left out a lot of details in that statement.

“Well, see, Sammy’s been hounding me to go out with this guy from his office. He  _ just knows _ we’ll be perfect for each other.”

“So, you’re stuck in the same boat. I fail to see how that works to our advantage.”

“We kill two birds with one stone. We tell them that we’re not comfortable going out on blind dates alone, and take them on a double date.”

“I guess misery loves company.”

“Oh, no, Cas, you forget who you’re dealing with. Ever since The Worst Date Ever, Charlie and I have a system. If she’s going out with someone new, she tells me when the date is supposed to start, and I call 45 minutes in. If she answers, I immediately know things are going to shit, and she has an out. If she ignores it, things are going well, and she texts me when she gets home. If she doesn’t text, I call at midnight to be sure I don’t have to go looking for her. She, of course, does the same for me. Theoretically at least. I haven’t actually had to use the system. Don’t date much since Lisa… Anyway, at most, we’re stuck with 45 minutes of bad date. Although, with both of us there, at least we know there’ll be good conversation.” He grinned broadly and finished off the whiskey and handed the glass back to Cas.

“So you’re suggesting a double blind date with an escape hatch.” He’d known Dean was smart, he hadn’t known he was an evil genius.

“Yup. Gets Sammy off my back and Amber off yours.”

“We’ll have to at least pretend to be marginally interested in case they report back.”

“Meh. It’s dinner. A little small talk about the menu and drinks, order your food, start eating. Poof 45 minutes down the drain. It’s the rest of the date that sucks. Especially the end where you have to tell them it was nice, but…”

“Oh, I know it.” It had taken a long time to get his brother to understand that after Fergus, he really wasn’t interested in dating for a while, maybe ever. He wasn’t positive that Gabe was ready to give up, but he hadn’t tried in a while, so Cas counted that as a win.

“So, you in?”

“Might as well, she already told him I’d call. You’re plan is way better than mine.”

“Oh, what was yours?”

“I was just going to call him and tell him I was desperately in love with my housemate, even though he’s totally unavailable, and so it wouldn’t really be fair to lead him on.” He’d pulled out his phone, and was dialing Gage’s number while he poured himself another drink. Dean never had to know how close to the truth that statement might be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've personally experienced the nag-date. I don't know that there's ever been a time where it isn't generally miserable for both people. Wish I'd have thought of making it a double blind!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas pulls a muscle at work. Lucky for him, his housemate just happens to be good with his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- Currently, I'm aiming for about 2-3 posts per week, probably split between this and Life Changes, but I'm headed to Dubai at the end of the week, so my updates will be spotty for a bit.  
> \- Thanks to wikiHow for the technical massage language.  
> \- In case you missed it, this is the Cas version of the Life Changes story, and I personally think they’re better read together.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Cas eased his coat off his arms slowly and hung in on the hook before easing out of his clogs. He kept his movement as minimal as possible, trudging down the hallway.

It had been an incredibly long shift. Of  _ course _ he’d been stuck with Zachariah, and of course the stupid shithead couldn’t even manage to help with a lift properly. They’d only had the patient lowered halfway into the bed when Zach had released her, leaving Cas very suddenly supporting the 250 pound woman in an awkward sideways hold.

It had hurt immediately. He’d known he’d probably pulled a muscle, but as soon as he’d finished in the patient room, he’d stretched it out, and the pain had mellowed to a manageable throb.

The freezing temperature of his car and his lack of motion during his 30 minute commute, however, had stiffened the injured muscle into a rock, leaving him barely able to move his right side. It hurt to even breathe.

He stopped in the middle of his bedroom and pushed his pants over his rear and let gravity do the rest of the work, kicking them into a pile before he started on his shirt. He managed to get it over his head, but when he got his elbow pulled in, his back seized up so tight he stopped moving altogether.

“Dammit all to fucking  _ hell _ Zachariah!” He’d kill that fucker if he had to keep working with him. It was bad enough having to clean up his messes, but that patient could have been seriously hurt if Zach had been lifting with one of the smaller nurses. 

He heard Dean’s door pop open.  _ Shit, probably shouldn’t have been cursing quite so loudly.  _

“Umm, Cas, I’m not trying to be a creep or anything, but…” Dean’s voice was sleep rough, and a several tones deeper than usual.

“I’m stuck.” He could only imagine the site he made, stuck halfway out of his shirt like a goddamned toddler. The pain, however, drowned out whatever embarrassment he might have otherwise felt at being caught half dressed.

“You’re stuck?” His roommate sounded like he honestly couldn’t wrap his head around the idea that an adult could actually become stuck while trying to get undressed.

“Yes, Dean, I’m stuck. Fucking Zachariah biffed a patient lift and I think I pulled a muscle in my back. I was doing ok, just a little sore, but I must have stiffened up in the cold on my way home and now I can’t get my  _ fucking shirt off _ !”

“OK, OK, can I, would it be alright if I-” 

“If you’re offering to help me, I would be eternally grateful. At this point, this position is making it hurt to breathe.” Cas cut off his rambling. Whether it was because Dean was still half asleep or he was trying to be polite didn’t particularly matter to him. He needed to get this shirt off so he could  _ breathe. _

Dean’s voice was significantly closer when he spoke this time. “Here’s the plan. I’m going to guide this arm down and out while I support the other arm. Then, we’ll pull it over your head and off the other arm. Think you can handle that?” 

It was odd, listening to Dean lay it out like that. At that moment, he could have honestly passed for any of the nurses or CNAs Cas worked with daily, each of them trained to inform the patient of their intentions before actually touching them. Cas grunted. “Well, that sounds less expensive than cutting the damned thing off.”

Dean put his plan into action, moving each part of his body slowly and carefully. When he was free of the top, and both arms resting limply at his sides, the sighed in relief. Well, he tried to. The deep breath had his muscles spasming again, and he went rigid.

“Just...stay right there, I’ll be right back.”

That wouldn’t be a problem because he was pretty sure he couldn’t draw a breath, let alone actually move.  _ Please let him be turning on the shower. _

He’d heard Dean come back down the hallway, but he didn’t hear the shower running. He hitched in a little breath, then another, finally working some air back into his lungs as Dean moved back around him to show him...towels and coconut oil. “Will you let me help a little more? When Lisa got like this, a back massage was the only thing that helped.”

“I couldn’t ask you to-”

Dean cut him off. “You’re not asking, I’m offering. I can’t just leave you like this.”

“Are you secretly a massage therapist on the side?” He hadn’t really meant it to sound as sarcastic as it came out, but massage done wrong could actually hurt the muscles more.

He huffed out a little chuckle before he answered. “So, something you might not know. If you live with a yoga instructor slash massage therapist for ten years, you learn exactly how to administer a proper therapeutic massage. You don’t get a choice. Lisa spent hours instructing and correcting me after I, and this is a direct quote, ‘acted like a complete pussy and barely touched her’ the first time she came home sore. So, I might not be a licensed therapist, but after basically a ten year of drills, I probably could be if I wanted to. Now will you let me help you?”

_ Jesus fucking Christ, every time I learn something else about this woman I hate her a little bit more. _ There had been no animosity in Dean’s tone, just a statement of fact. Cas couldn’t deny that it sounded like he'd had essentially endured an extended apprenticeship, so he probably wouldn’t make the problem worse. And if he was good at it… “Please.”

He waddled slowly over to the bed as he watched Dean prepare it with one of his giant green bath sheets and place a second towel at the top to support his head. That thoughtful little act bolstered his confidence in the other man’s skill. At the very least, he knew how to prep the space to make it comfortable and prevent them from getting oil everywhere.

“I’m going to help you sit down so we can get you on your stomach without hurting you, OK?” Was he really explaining this to  _ Cas? _

“I’m a fucking nurse Dean. I know how this works.”

"So you don’t need my help getting horizontal?” Dean had one eyebrow raised.

_ Shit _ .  _Way to be a dick to the guy who's trying to help you._  “Sorry, yes, please.”

“I’m just used to narrating. Lisa hated surprises, especially when she was sore, so I always announced my intentions so I didn’t startle her and make the whole situation worse.”

“It’s actually...exactly how you should do it. I’m just being an asshole.” If nothing else, that hateful bitch had trained him well in the art of patient communication.

“Hey man, you hurt. I know how that goes.” Dean had maneuvered him so that his back was to the bed and was now guiding his arms over his shoulders, slipping his under Cas’ armpits to take his weight as he sat.  _ He really could be a nurse. He moves like one. _ Dean lowered him ever so gently, positioning him so that when he was lying down, he’d be able to roll onto his belly without falling out of bed.  _ Fucking smart too. _

“You need me to bring your legs up before we lay you down or you think I can do that after.”  _ And thoughtful. _

“My lower back isn’t too bad, the pull is in my right serratus posterior inferior.” He didn’t even think before he tossed out the technical term for the muscle, though it only took him a second to realize that it wasn’t a term a layman was likely to know, like the trapezius or deltoid. Before he could correct himself, Dean’s hand was hovering over the muscle in question.

“That’s right here?” 

“Yesss.” He’d anticipated the touch with the question, but Jesus, Dean’s hands were cold against the heat of his injury.

“Sore to the point of tender or are my hands just too cold?” He heard Dean’s hesitation, though he hadn’t stepped back. 

“Cold hands, goddamn.”

Dean warmed up his hands before removing Cas’ socks and throwing them over Cas’ shoulder, presumably toward the hamper. 

“OK, this part might suck.” 

_ No kidding _ . This was the hardest part, keeping his back relatively still while they got him actually horizontal on the bed with his feet up. Cas groaned slightly has Dean guided his upper body to the bed, and he might have let an ‘oww, fuck’ escape while he was rolled over, but it was overall handled with very little additional pain.

“You obviously would have been a better lift partner than Zachariah was.” His face was surrounded by the towel now, so he wasn’t sure if Dean would even hear him.

“Don’t know about that. This is about the extent of my experience. Getting you laid down and getting you back up without undoing the massage.”  _ Can’t just take the praise, can he. _ He heard the slick sound of oil between Dean’s palms.

“Gonna touch you now, just lightly until I get you lubed up. OK?”

“Effleurage.”  _ Really, you’re going to give him a vocabulary lesson while he fixes you up? Way to show your appreciation. _

“So you want me to use the technical terms? I can do that. Effleurage, light friction. Used to spread the oil and give the recipient time to get used to being touched. Kinda helps to warm up the muscles a little.”

It was evident, both by Dean’s recitation and the gently applied pressure of his palms, that he knew exactly what he was doing. Cas could only sigh in response, and grunt when Dean indicated that he was going to move into the next stage of his massage, floating the technical term with ease. He kneaded up the unhurt side of Cas’ back for several minutes before his hands drew to a stop at the base of his spine.

“Ummm, since I don’t have a table, I gotta come up there with you. That OK?” 

He sounded so reluctant. Either he was uncomfortable with getting into bed with Cas, or he didn’t want to make Cas uncomfortable.  _ If he knew how much I was fucking loving the feel of his hands on me, he’d be running away. _ He couldn’t disguise his amusement. “Yes Dean.”

“Dude, I don’t want you to think I’m a creeper or anything. I like living here.” The man even managed to climb across the bed without jostling him somehow. Clearly he was a magician.

“You got out of bed in the middle of the night to give me a back massage. You’re definitely not in danger of getting kicked out.”  _ You may be in danger of earning a permanent place in my fantasies, but nobody needs to know about that.  _

Jesus fuck, the man certainly knew how to use his hands. Dean worked his muscles perfectly until he was little more than a puddle, his pain now miles away. Well, the pain his back at any rate. With each press of Dean’s hands, Cas’ hips moved a little, and the tiny bit of friction on his groin that resulted, in combination with knowing that it was  _ Dean _ standing over him turning him into a pile of goo, definitely had his cock perking up. He was almost startled when Dean finally spoke again.

“You want the whole nine with the drum solo and the pinching or should I just move on to the fanning. Not sure if that has a fancy French name or not, sorry.”

“Fanning. You work too much longer, I’ll be asleep, and I really need a shower.” As far as Cas knew, there wasn’t a French term for it, but he didn’t bother to share that bit. He was far more concerned with the fact that he had to get his body under control before Dean wrapped up this heavenly touching.

To his surprise, however, Dean didn’t move away after the final soothing motions, he moved closer and worked the tension out of his shoulders and then his neck. He felt one hand and then the other wipe across the towel, and then those fingers, those glorious fucking amazing fingers were dragging through his hair and over his scalp. He couldn’t even begin to control the moan  _ that _ pulled out of him.  _ Wonder if he’d be that gentle if I had his dick in my mouth. _

“Feeling better?”  _ Get it together Novak, we’re wrapping up here, and you’re going to have to stand up. _

“I’m keeping you.”  _ Nice. Real smooth. _ Dean just hummed in response before giving him a little pat on the shoulder and removing his hands completely.

“You should take a minute or two before we get you up, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything.”  _ Thank God.   _ “You still feel any tight spots?” Aside from his dick, his entire body was more relaxed than he could remember it feeling in a very long time. He snorted at himself.  _Could you try to be a fucking adult for once?_

“You could definitely get your license.” He turned his head to the side to face Dean.

“Yeah? I can tell I’m out of practice, my arms feel like rubber. I should give you a foot massage sometime.”

That settled it. Clearly the man was perfect. “Prolly shouldn’t, or I’d be waking you up every night. I don’t care how picky I am about shoes, ten hours on my feet, and they’re killing me.”

“Should I-” And he knew Dean would do it. The man didn’t know when to stop trying to help.

“No, Jesus, thank you, but I’ll never make it to the shower. I’m sure you’d like to get back to bed at some point too.”

“No worries, there’re a few perks to being manager, and one of them is hiding in the office when I don’t sleep well.” Cas seriously doubted the man ever actually took a break, even if he was tucked behind his desk. “You think you’re ready to stand up?”

_ Fuck, OK.  _ He was half hard still, but he really did need to let Dean go back to bed and get himself into the shower. Aside from the obvious tension relieving benefits of the water pressure, his nightly scrub down was mandatory because he knew well the incredibly gross things that he came into contact with during his shit. In addition to being generally surrounded by germs, there was no way to avoid the bodily fluids that came with the job.

Fortunately, that line of thought quickly had him mostly soft. “Ready as I’ll ever be I suppose.”

Dean showed as much care helping him out of bed as he had getting him into it. 

“Thank you.”

“No worries man, I’m sure you’d do the same thing.”

“I might try, but I’m not nearly so skilled. You’d probably tell me I was a pussy. I’m just a nurse, we have a palliative team for that stuff.”

Dean snorted. “There’s no such thing as ‘just’ an anything. I  _ know _ what kind of shit nurses have to do everyday, especially oncology nurses. No way I could do what you do man.”

Cas huffed out a sigh and shook his head.  _ Could Dean possibly be more different than Fergus?   _ “You’re something else Dean. Thanks for helping me.”

“No problem. You good to make it to the bathroom?” The thought of Dean helping him into the shower had his thoughts back in dangerous territory.

“I feel like a new person. Go back to bed.” 

“OK, but I’m leaving my door cracked just in case. Just holler if you need anything.” He backed toward the hall. 

“Yes, mom.” 

“Good night Cas.”

“Good night Dean.”

Cas gathered up the towels and tucked them into the hamper with his uniform before he dug out a pair of pajama pants. By the time he was standing under the warm spray, the last of the soreness washing away from his body, his mind had dug back into a rather graphic fantasy of Dean soaping him up, showing as much care to the rest of his body as he’d just demonstrated on his back.  _ Better not try it dumbass.  _ He’d probably end up hurting himself if he tried to wank, or worse, Dean would hear him groaning and think he needed more help. Not that he’d mind a hand from Dean right about now, but it wasn’t the the kind of help his housemate was likely willing to offer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I mentioned in Life Changes, I'm leaving for Dubai on Friday, and I'll be gone for a couple of weeks. I'm going to try to post at least once, but I'm going for work, so I have a pretty full schedule. 
> 
> Sorry, if there's too much repetition from the Dean chapter, writing these so they can be read independently is tougher than I hoped it would be. 
> 
> Please don't forget about me while I'm gone. 😜


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One drunken confession leads to another and another. We're not going to be sad these guys didn't do this sooner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this one is for "Drunken Confessions (B3).   
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

He’d known it was a bad idea before he’d gotten out the shot glasses and the whiskey.

He’d told himself that if there are specific things to watch out for that maybe it would be easier to pay attention to the movie instead of Dean.

He’d been wrong.

It had been weeks since he had Dean’s hands on his bare skin, in his hair, but it’s fresh every time they touch. He had never recognized the difference in touches before. He’d never considered himself touch starved. But since that night, he’d learned. He touched people constantly, it was literally his job. It was fine until Dean had pressed into his skin. 

Now, every handshake, every lift or assist, every incidental contact was a reminder. There was no intention in those other hands. He’d never realized how much that mattered. The intimacy of sitting near enough to touch, of hands brushing together, of shoulder nudges, it was incredibly different from the impersonal touches of his normal day. 

It left him aching and wanting more. Needing that shoulder nudge to be a hug. Needing the hand on his shoulder to be fingers pressing into his skin. Needing the hand on his back as they walk through the door to be pressing them closer together. 

It wasn’t sexual...it wasn’t  _ always _ sexual. His imagination was more than fertile enough, especially with their weekly yoga sessions, to get him off satisfactorily. It was an emotional need. Dean was his best friend, his partner. His touch was just  _ more _ than what others could offer. 

It was enough, what they had. The easy camaraderie soothed an ache he hadn’t known he had. It  _ had _ to be enough because he couldn’t risk losing it to push for more. There was no way he could go back to what he’d had before. 

So, he pushed down the longing, and dug out the shot glasses, and listened and watched intently for lances and Ulrich and Chaucer and horses. 

It lasted for about ten minutes. Until he realized that Dean would point to the screen each time there was a drinking cue.

He was fucked.

Now, they were leaning together, laughing and drinking. Somehow, his hand had migrated to Dean’s thigh, but there’d been no complaint, so he didn’t bother to move it.

It was actually a good movie. Or, the parts he’d seen were enjoyable. He’d lost track of the plot some time ago, to be honest. 

“I always forget how hot that man is in this movie. Still, he’s got nothing on you.” 

Dean bumped their shoulders together, but Cas barely noticed.  “Psht. That’s a fine piece of man. I don’t compare.”

“Dude, I’ve seen you naked, you’re fucking hot.”  _ He thinks I’m hot?  _

“You seen me in my underwear, when I was in so much pain I couldn’t get out of my own shirt. That’s hot to you?” 

Dean moved so he could look directly into Cas’ face. The man had the most incredible green eyes, and it was a little hard to listen when he had them locked onto Cas like that. “I watched you in the shower one night. I mean, it was an accident at first, the door was kind of open, but Jesus, I couldn’t look away. Made me come in my pants right there in the hallway.”

Cas’ eyebrows shot up, but he couldn’t look away from those eyes. He had no idea when he’d left the door open for Dean to get such a show, but it didn’t really matter. “Well, it was probably your fault anyway.”  _ Every time I get off in the shower I’m thinking of you. Pretending it’s your hands on me. _

Dean reared back. “What?”

There was no holding back now, he could blame it on the alcohol, but really, it felt good to tell him the truth. “Jesus Dean, it’s like a daily thing. Do you even know what you look like? From the first time I saw you bent into a bridge...ughn.” He squeezed his eyes shut.

“You jack off in the shower thinking about me?” Dean didn’t look disgusted. Cas just nodded.  _ Confessing is one thing, he doesn’t need details. _

“That’s so fucking hot.” Dean dragged his lower lip between his teeth, and Cas had to fight not lick away the redness left behind.

“Then that massage, your hands…”

“Tell me.” The command was gruff,  _ Oh god, he wants to know. _

“Every time you pressed into my back...it was...I was so fucking hard, and I couldn’t even get off because I was afraid of making too much noise. Or hurting myself. But those hands in my hair…” He couldn’t stop the little moan that escaped him at the memory. He wanted those hands back.

“Those sounds you make, Jesus Cas. You’ve been the only thing I can think about. Every time I tell myself I shouldn’t think about you like that, but then I’m coming and you’re right there.”

Cas gave up. He didn’t want to hold himself back. He needed to feel Dean against him. Their mouths were locked together and their tongues were exploring, and it reminded him for all the world of making out in the back of a car in high school, but it was Dean. Dean’s hands on his hips...Dean pulling away?  _ Oh, to breathe. Acceptable. _ He let his forehead rest against the one below him, panting a little.

“Can’t be like this Cas.”

_ Please god let me have heard that wrong. _

“I’ve wanted you since I met you, but we can’t do it like this. I don’t want to be something you regret when you’re sober.”

How could Dean ever think that he’d regret this? Wasn’t he listening?  _ Maybe he’s thinking he’ll regret it in the morning. _

He pressed a kiss to Dean’s furrowed brow, then met his concerned gaze.  “I’m not going to pretend this didn’t happen Dean, and I certainly won’t regret it, but I don’t want you to think it’s only cause I’m drunk either.” 

“OK then.” Dean nodded once.

“OK then.”

“Umm, so do you wanna finish the movie?”

He buried his face in the side of Dean’s neck. “I don’t wanna move.”  _ If we wake up like this, there’ll be no way to ignore it. _

Dean hugged him a little tighter for a second, snuggled them into the couch and covered them up.

“Alright then.” 

_ Alright then. Guess we’ll see in the morning just how big an ass I made of myself. But maybe, just maybe, he won’t regret it either. _   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit, it was hard to get back into the flow of the story. I really hope I didn't lose what I had going before I went out of town, and I'm trusting you guys to be honest and tell me if I broke it so I can go back and fix it. Missed you terribly. The trip was good, but I really wish I'd had some time to write. It keeps me sane.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please let Sober Dean feel the same this morning as Drunk Dean felt last night...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked,this is for "Dry Humping (B5).  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Cas woke to the feeling of his dick pressed into a warm ass. He didn’t have to wonder who it was, the memories of last night were fresh in his mind. More than anything, he wanted to press them together tighter, but there’s the matter of consent to consider. Dean might have said that he’d be game in the morning, but as he had also pointed out, what seemed like a good idea under the influence wasn’t always as well received sober. Sober Dean and Drunk Dean might not agree on Cas’ desirability.

When Dean arched his back, pressing them closer together, he couldn’t stop the groan from escaping. His arm tightened where it was wrapped around Dean’s waist.  _ Dear god, please let him be awake and wanting. _ Before he could drag his brain back from that thought, Dean was rolling to face him.  _ Shit. Well, it was fun while it lasted, but I’m getting the first shower.  _ Not like he had to hide what he did in there anymore.

But Dean wasn’t pulling away. In fact, they were pressed together shoulder to knee, and Dean was grinning at him. He gave Dean an Eskimo kiss in response to his good morning, watched as the grin widened before responding. He tightened his arms, pulling their hips closer together, and his brain just about short circuited when he felt Dean’s erection press next to his own. “Mornin’. Since you didn’t bolt from the couch as soon as you woke up, can I assume that you don’t have regrets?”

“I regret sleeping on the couch.” He pulled back a little to get a better look at Dean. Maybe he’d misinterpreted that earlier grin. “Next time we have a slumber party, I vote we do it in a bed. Dude, we’re too old to sleep on the couch.”  _ OK, can’t really argue with that. _ Dean pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

He stopped trying to hold control over his body so tightly, allowing his hips to ease into a slow grind. Dean had had no problem stopping them last night, even while intoxicated. He had no doubt that he would do it again if this wasn’t what he wanted. 

“Teasing aside, I don’t regret this. I want you more than I’ve wanted anyone in a very long time, but not if-”

OK, so they were gonna have this talk anyway. He cut Dean off before he started talking about regrets again.  “Dean, I told you I wouldn’t regret this. I described, in explicit detail, how much I’ve been wanting you. But, you’re my best friend, maybe my only real friend. I’ll stop right now if this will mean giving that up.”

“Please say we can have both. We’re good at talking. We talk all the time. If you find somebody else, you can just tell me and I’ll back off.” Dean had started meeting his thrusts now, and Cas had to concentrate to keep his attention on their conversation.

“We are good at talking. We can stay friends when you find somebody else. Both definitely sounds good. You just have to promise to be honest with me when you’re ready to go back to the way things were.”  

He knows he’s not the kind of guy that Dean would actually want to have a relationship with, and he  _ knows  _ that it will probably wreck him when Dean gets bored, but right this minute, he needs whatever Dean is willing to give him.

“I promise Cas, I’ll be honest with you always. And you’ll do the same? You’ll tell me when you’re ready to move on?” 

_ I’ll never be ready to move on.  _ How could he be? This man was the best thing to ever come into his life.  _ But I’ll do it when I have to.  _ “Yes.”

He was done talking. He was so close, and now he’s got permission to grab and kiss and lick and bite, so he does. First those lips, then that spot he loves just under Dean’s jaw. 

Dean was so fucking beautiful when he came, the wet heat of it seeped through layers of fabric to spread perfectly across the head of his dick, making everything just that little bit hotter. Cas was right there with him, gasping and moaning Dean’s name into his neck and holding them as tightly together as possible. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once I got started I didn't want to stop. It feels so good to write again. 👏 I know you don't hate the overlap, but it still feels like I could have done better in that department, so, I apologize for that. Please let me know what I need to make better! Comments are soul food.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a huge difference between a real relationship and this thing he's got going on with Dean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this is for "Friends with Benefits" (O25).  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- These guys look an awful lot like our friendly neighborhood Dean and Cas, but they're not. Just saying...  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Cas had known, he’d really known, his relationship with Fergus hadn’t been healthy. He’d recognized that having his career minimized and generally being taken for granted weren’t the hallmarks of a good partnership. 

He hadn’t understood, though, how much he was missing. Not big gestures, or gifts or praise, but little things, until Dean. He’d really only just met the man in the grand scheme of things, but they coexisted perfectly. He and Fergus could barely go a day without arguing about who’s turn it was to do what, and Cas had usually just ended up doing it. With Dean, that was never a problem.

With Dean, there’s no complaining about how boring their life is. The man seems to thrive on the routine they’ve settled into. He puts time into picking out movies for Friday nights instead of deciding which restaurant or club they’d go to. He’s  _ disappointed _ when their relaxed Saturday laundry and couch time is interrupted. He’s excited to spend his Sunday mornings puttering in the kitchen, trying new recipes, preparing their meals for the week ahead. 

He’d known that their relationship hadn’t been good, but having a healthy not-relationship with Dean puts a new light on just how bad it really had been. Dean never missed a chance to remind Cas how important and hard working nurses are. He made a point to explain that there’s no such thing as “just” an anything, because “Cas, the hospital needs the housekeeping staff and the maintenance staff, and security, and  _ nurses _ , just as much if not more than it needs doctors. It’s the  _ nurses _ that treat patients, really, I know, I’ve seen it. You can spend fifteen minutes with a doctor, but you see the nurses that much in an hour sometimes. So stop saying you’re ‘ _ just a nurse _ ’.”

Even now, sitting in the little room they call the nurses’ lounge, eating the dinner Dean packed for him, complete with a little post-it note identifying the contents and heating instructions, he was amazed by how differently two people could affect his life.

Five minutes ago, Rachel had hunted him down and volunteered to cover his rooms so he could sit down and have dinner. Since he’d starting bringing in actual meals, it had become normal for one of the other nurses to do that. Before, he’d been lucky if he could make time to shovel in whatever was available (usually cold) before he was being paged. Now, he doesn’t have to ask, right around 7, somebody comes to send him to eat. Maybe it had seemed like he didn’t care before, and bringing in real food had changed that. Regardless, right now, the smell of his dinner had attracted the attention of the other nurses in the room. There’s a general sense of playful jealousy every time he sits down to eat. A comment here or there about how nice it must be to have somebody at home who can cook like that. 

Dean had managed, again, to make his little container of microwaved food taste like it had just been plated from the oven. No mushy vegetables, no overcooked meat. 

_ Pretty sure this is the best meatloaf I’ve ever had. I didn’t think I even liked meatloaf. _

He set his fork down for a second to shoot Dean a text, because he  _ needed _ to tell him how awesome this meal was, and that shone just one more spotlight on the difference between Dean and Fergus. They were constantly in communication. Dean never made him feel (or outright told him) that it was clingy to text. In fact, if he hadn’t texted by noon, Dean would text him just to check in. They made a point to touch base, knew how the other’s week was going, knew when it had been a bad day… For the first time in a long time, Cas felt like somebody might actually care what was going on in his life, and it was...really nice.

~~~

Since they’d started sleeping together, both figuratively and literally, coming home from work was actually something he looked forward to, rather than something that simply marked the end of another day. 

This was what Cas had imagined when he bought this house. Coming home to somebody who was maybe waiting up for him sometimes and maybe wasn’t, but always left the door open so Cas would say goodnight. Who always pulled Cas into bed with him for sleepy kisses, or slow sleepy groping, before cuddling him close and falling back to sleep. This, on top of the meals and the laundry and the  _ domesticity _ that they'd had before, which hasn’t changed, just now often include soft morning kisses and snuggling on the couch and neck nuzzling over laundry, it’s just so...perfect.

He knew it would end. Dean was such a great guy that somebody was bound to snap him up sooner rather than later. How could he not just enjoy these moments though, even if it’s only so he’ll know what a real relationship  _ should _ be like?

~~~

Cas wandered into the kitchen in his pajamas. His attention was immediately captured by the angry mumbling emanating from the man in front of him.

Sunday mornings the kitchen belonged to Dean. Aside from grabbing a cup of coffee and ensuring that he hadn’t forgotten any grocery items, he let Dean have the space. No way was he going to jeopardize the meal service he was enjoying, even if he did remind Dean daily that it was completely unnecessary.

Today, rather than humming classic rock to himself, his housemate was stirring around the contents of a sheet pan with a spatula and muttering about the properties of egg substitute. Cas moved closer to get a closer look at the pan. Whatever it was supposed to be, it smelled like cookies and looked a lot like gourmet granola. He nudged Dean’s shoulder with his own and placed a quck kiss on this jaw.

“Smells really good.”

“Dude, it was  _ supposed _ to be cookies. I found this recipe for breakfast cookies that are loaded with good for you stuff like dried fruit and nuts and oats.  _ This _ is  _ not _ that.” Dean stirred the contents of the pan around again. 

Cas had no clue how someone could look angry and cute and flustered and disappointed all at the same time, but Dean was currently doing just that. He shrugged, and turned to the opposite cabinet, pulling out two bowls. He gently removed the spatula from Dean’s grip and scooped the offending mix into both before he retrieved the milk from the fridge and poured it over both. He plopped spoons into the bowls and slid one toward Dean before taking his own to the other side of the island and sitting down to eat.

He could taste all of the things Dean had mentioned. It was better than any cereal he’d ever bought at the grocery store, that was for sure. Dean watched him eat for a minute before picking up his own bowl and plopping onto the stool next to him.

“Huh.” It was grunted with a full mouth, but Cas figured he knew what it meant.

"It’s really good.” He mumbled around his own bite.

“Yeah.”

He finished chewing, and looked at the man next to him. “Maybe you could make it just like this again?”

Dean laughed out loud, and it really was one of Cas’ favorite things to see. The man was absolutely stunning when he was happy.

“No clue how I did it this time, but I’ll give it a shot if you like it.”

Cas just smiled, his mouth full again. This, sitting in the kitchen, eating cereal on a Sunday morning with a guy who would intentionally try to recreate a recipe fail just for him...Yeah, he liked it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love these guys, I really do. Also, if someone would move in with me and make me dinner, that would be great.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quiet moments with Dean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are. I highly recommend reading them in alternating chapters rather than separately.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Dean wasn’t waiting for him on the couch. It wasn’t that unusual, and Cas didn’t think anything of it until he’d finished his shower and had gone into his bedroom to say good night and found the bed empty, still made.

_ Huh. _

The man had to be somewhere, the Impala was parked in its spot in the garage. Maybe he just hadn’t noticed Dean making tea in the kitchen. For as large as the man was, he could be surprisingly silent sometimes.

He was sitting at the dining room table, a glass in one hand, a frame in the other. The bottle of Jack, still nearly full, sat at his elbow.

Cas approached slowly, stopped just to his side, and looked down to see what photo Dean was holding. It wasn’t one of the ones they’d framed on his birthday, in fact, Cas had never seen it before. This was clearly a professional family photo taken when Dean was very young. Dean was in the front, holding a baby and grinning widely. A beautiful blonde woman had her arm wrapped around his shoulders. A good looking dark haired man stood beside her, the look of love on his face unmistakable as he looked down at his family.

Dean didn’t startle when Cas leaned into him, wrapped his arm around his shoulders much like his mother was in the photo. His only response was to lower his glass and wrap his hand around Cas’ wrist, clingy tightly.

“Been twenty years, today, since Dad.”

Cas wasn’t sure what to say, so he just tightened his grip and nuzzled his face into the top of Dean’s head.

“I remember him...from before mom died I mean.” A rough thumb traced over the woman’s face. “He was different. He used to sit me in his lap and pretend to let me drive around the neighborhood. When they found out Sammy was coming, he told me all about how awesome being a big brother was going to be, how important. Told me it would be my job to teach him all about life, how to tie his shoes, how to throw a ball, maybe about girls when we got older. He said Sammy would be mine to watch out for, to protect, to keep safe from the scary things…” He trailed off.

“After she died, it was like he was just lost. I was little, I didn’t understand. I just knew I missed my mom. Uncle Bobby told me that she went to be with the angels, and I cried. I needed her way more than the angels did. Dad told me to man up. ‘Life isn’t fair Dean, so just quit whining about it. You’re not a baby anymore.’ But I was, I mean, I was only four.”

Cas’ eyes were stinging, his heart  _ ached _ for that little boy.

“Dad...it was like night and day. Sometimes I think I might have imagined, or dreamed maybe, those things from when I was little. When he was sober, he was a drill sergeant, the house had to be spotless, our toys had to be put away, the table had to be set perfectly. When he wasn’t, he...It was bad Cas.”

Dean ducked his head to his chest, resting his chin on Cas’ arm.

“When I was maybe seven or eight, Dad started to go out to the cabin. First it was just the weekends, but his ‘hunting trips’ just got longer and longer. I took care of Sammy best I could. Bobby and Ellen helped, dropped off groceries and diapers. Ellen taught me how to cook, how to read a recipe. Dad would get so mad. Told them we didn’t need people in our business.” Dean shook his head, not looking up.

“Sammy was such a good kid. And smart, so smart. He deserved to be loved, cared for. I did the best I could, but I know it wasn’t enough.”

“Dean, you-”

“I know Cas. I know I was just a kid, but I was all he had. Logically, I know that I should never have been in that position, that there should have been an adult, a  _ parent _ , to take care of us. I  _ know _ that. But in my heart, he’s my baby brother, it was my  _ job _ to keep him safe, to protect him from the scary things.”

“You did a good job, Sam is a great man.”

Dean just nodded.

“Doctor told me that he died ‘cause his liver just gave up. I was twenty and Sam was barely 16… It was almost easier after he was gone. I feel like shit for saying it, but it’s true. After years of trying to balance taking care of Sammy and staying out of Dad’s way when he was mad...it was easier to just have Sam.”

Dean set the frame down and turned into Cas, wrapped his arms tightly around his waist and buried his face in Cas’ stomach. Cas held him tight, one hand buried in his hair, the other still around his shoulders.  _ I wish I could take it away, I wish he’d never had to live it at all. _

“I wish I didn’t remember him from before, you know?” It was mumbled into his t-shirt. “Maybe I wouldn’t miss him if I only knew how he was after…”

“Dean…”

“Let’s go to bed Cas. I don’t want to think about this any more.” He stood and tugged on Cas’ hand. Cas let himself be tugged along to Dean’s bed. He tucked himself tightly up behind Dean, wrapped his arms around him, pressed tiny kisses into his neck, and just let him cry quietly until he fell asleep.

He lay awake long after Dean.  _ Who held him when he was little and lost? _

~~~

Dean was gone in the morning, as he always was, when Cas woke up.

He stumbled his way to the kitchen. A fresh batch of blueberry muffins sat on the counter next to a full pot of coffee. Dean was in the habit of setting the timer on the machine so Cas would have coffee waiting when he got up, and it never failed to bring a smile to his face.

A little green post-it note rested against the plate of muffins.  _ Thanks for putting up with me last night. _

Cas crushed the note in his hand. He wanted to hunt down every last person who had made Dean feel like sharing his pain was a burden. For all of the things that Dean did for his family, had been doing for years...for all of the protectiveness of him that they showed, somehow, he still felt like his needs just weren’t as important as anyone else’s. He wanted to wrap Dean up and hide him from the world. Wanted to hold him until all of that pain was gone.

_ Fuck. Shit, shit, shit.  _

He’d gone and fallen head over heels in love with his roommate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a hard chapter to write. I've been a little stuck lately, and this was just there, hanging over me. I know it's...unpleasant, seeing Dean hurt. But remember, he's strong, and Cas...Cas is good for him.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas finally lets Gabriel meet Dean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are. I highly recommend reading them in alternating chapters rather than separately.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

“Sweet Love, this is Gabriel, how can I sweeten your day?”   
  
“How’s my favorite big brother doing today?”

“Who’s this?”

“Gabe…”

“Oh,  _ Castiel _ , it’s just been so long since I heard your voice I didn’t recognize you at first.”

“Gabe, we talked last weekend.”

“For like two minutes. That doesn’t count.”

“You hung up on me to take a cake out of the oven and you never called me back!” There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, and Cas checked his phone to ensure that Gabe hadn’t cut off yet another call.

“So, what favor do you need this time?”

“How do you-”

“Dude, you didn’t make fun of the greeting, you  _ always _ tease me about that.”

“I was hoping you had something ready that I could pick up later.”

“I’m gonna need more information. Since you called instead of just stopping by, I’m going to assume this isn’t just a sudden craving for sugar.”

“Dean’suncleinvitedusfordinner.” He may have mumbled it. Sue him, he knew exactly what his brother would think about that.

“Oh HO. Dinner with the boyfriend’s family. I seeee.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Cassie, every time I talk to you, it’s Dean this and Dean that. I’ve seen you exactly twice since he moved in, and one of those times you were picking up his birthday pies. Wait, now that I think of it, the time you came into the bakery you left with a cherry pie.

_ Busted.  _ Charlie might have mentioned that Dean had had to deal with a particularly douchey customer at work while he was putting together his grocery list… “Gabe, I stopped by to see you. The pie was a happy accident.”

“Right. When do I get to meet this guy? I thought that was a condition of the whole birthday pie favor anyway?”

“Well, since I told Dean that you serve pie by the slice, I’m guessing this afternoon when I come in to pick up whatever you’ve got available for tomorrow. But if you don’t have anything ready, I can always grab a cake from the grocery store.”

“That’s blackmail.” It was practically a growl.

“I’m not-”

“Give me a few of hours so I’ll actually have time to sit down with you guys. Apparently, I’ve got a Dark and Dirty to make.”

“Oh my god. Is that the dark chocolate one with the ganache and the cake crumbs?”

“It is. My number one best seller. Of course I just sold my last one ten minutes ago.”

“I really didn’t mean for you to have to make something special. We can just take a pie. I’m sure Dean would love that.”

“Cas, regardless of the fact that lover boy is obsessed with pie, if you’re trying to impress the family, Dark and Dirty is the way to go. Trust me on this.”

“You really are my favorite brother you know.”

“That’s cause I’m the only one who hasn’t disowned you. Sometimes I think they had the right idea. I’ll see you at 4.”

“Love you Gabe.”

“Love you too Cas.” As usual, the call was ended before Cas could say goodbye.

~~~

_ Please, dear sweet baby Jesus, please let Gabriel behave. _

He had seriously considered just offering to bring home pie for Dean. He’d actually opened his mouth to say it several times, but...Gabe was right, he’d agreed to introduce him to Dean.  If Dean was going to continue to live with him, they’d meet eventually, at least at the bakery, there’d be other things to keep both men distracted. 

Dean had chuckled when he’d seen the store’s sign. The bright red lip print with the black lettering had taken Gabriel weeks of work with a graphic designer to get just right, mostly because he’d had trouble finding a ‘sexy’ font.

“That looks like something you’d see on a rock album. Freakin’ sweet.”

“Make sure you tell him that. He’s quite proud of it.” And it would give them something to talk about that  _ wasn’t _ their relationship status.

Gabriel was waiting for them at the counter when they walked in.

“Cassie!” He was wrapped in a hug before he could even take a breath, but Gabe pulled back before he could move to lift his arms. 

He gave Dean a very obvious and overdone once over before offering his hand. “And you must be Dean. Cassie said you were hot, but damn.”

Dean flushed red, but laughed and shook Gabriel’s hand. “Gabriel? It’s nice to meet the genius behind that pie display at my birthday. That was awesome man. I couldn’t believe Cas got me  _ pie _ . Best birthday ever.”

“Anything for my baby bro. Which, as it happens, is why we’re here half an hour before closing, right? Gotta impress the family?”

It was Cas’ turn to blush.

“Cas doesn’t need to impress Uncle Bobby. The old coot loved him on sight. Besides, he’s an oncology nurse. That pretty much makes him an angel in Bobby’s book.”

Dean hadn’t denied the family comment, and was definitely handling his brother better than Cas could have ever hoped.

“I heard you might have a slice of pie left?”

“Saved a piece of apple just for you. Cassie, you want one?”

“Nah, I’m saving room for dinner.”

“Ahh, c’mon man, there’s always room for dessert if you eat it first. We’ll just split fries instead of ordering double.” Dean had turned to him with the most adorable pouty puppy dog look, how could he say no to that?

He nodded at Gabriel. When his brother had walked away to retrieve their pie, Dean leaned in. “So...you told your brother I was hot?” It was whispered low, and right into his ear. He shivered involuntarily. Dean’s answering chuckle was more than a little wicked.

“So, Dean, I hear you’re good with your hands?” Gabriel slid their pie in front of them smoothly. Dean raised an eyebrow at Cas. 

A million things rushed through his head. Those hands pressing into his muscles when Dean was giving him a massage, the way he held a knife so comfortably when he was chopping vegetables for dinner, “I never said...” his brain kind of just stopped making words, suddenly producing an image of that  _ thing _ he’d done last night.

“Well, you know what they say about mechanics.” Dean's response was smooth, and helped him drag his mind back to the present.

“Speaking of which, my car has is making this weird rattling, knock noise. I really should bring it in but I’m always working.”

Dean nodded. “Just give me a call one day this week. I’ll have the guys come pick it up. I’ll even give you the family discount if you thrown in a few cupcakes for the shop.”

Having had a ‘weird noise’ problem himself last month, Cas knew that the family discount meant that you paid only for the parts, and not the labor. He also knew better than to protest. It had been the source of their first actual argument. 

“Deal.” Dean nodded around a bite of his pie. “So what kind of trouble are you two getting up to tonight besides sharing fries?”

“Saturday night. Mandatory appearance at the Roadhouse or Ellen will have our hides. If you’re not busy you should join us. Best burgers in the county, hands down.”

They chatted like that for most of the rest of the hour before Gabe had to close. He couldn’t deny that he was grateful that Dean seemed to like his brother, despite the fact that the little shit was his normal annoying and flirtatious self. Gabe was his only family in town, and it would suck if they hated each other, but he was just waiting for his brother to bring up the boyfriend thing he’d teased about earlier. While Dean had taken the ribbing well so far, he wasn’t sure how he would respond to hints that they were romantically involved. He really didn’t want to hear Dean tell Gabriel that they just weren’t that way. By the time they left, highly lauded chocolate cake in tow, not only was Gabe joining them at the Roadhouse, but he’d been invited (or invited himself) over for dinner the following Sunday.

Evidently, they were both going to be spending more time with their families. Together. Cas couldn’t bring himself to be anything but happy about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you're wondering, it's entirely likely that I'll write about "that thing" that happened last night. When I do, it will be straight up PWP, nd posted as separate work in this series. So, if you ever notice a next work arrow, prepare yourself for some smut. Fair warning.
> 
> Also, in case you missed it in my note on Life Changes, I'm sorry for the late post. I had the flu this weekend, and I'm still trying to recover. Upshot, my abs don't hurt anymore! :) Thanks for reading and commenting. You guys make my day.❤


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas gets a taste of what being part of the family really means.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are. I highly recommend reading them in alternating chapters rather than separately.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

He wouldn’t deny being nervous about going to dinner at Bobby’s the next day, at least not to himself. When Dean had told him that Bobby expected them promptly at 1, his anxiety certainly hadn't lessened. By the time they’d crawled into bed, he was a wreck. Dean, ever observant Dean, had noticed.

“What’s got you knotted up?” He said it with his fingers pressing into the tight muscles where his neck met his shoulders, and Cas didn’t try to contain the moan that provoked.

“Nothing…” Dean didn’t need to know how important it was to him that his family liked him.

“Roll over so I can do this better. And don’t lie, you usually only get like this after a bad shift with Zach.”

Fuck his body for giving away his emotions. He rolled over and Dean straddled his waist, reaching over for the bottle of fractionated coconut oil that now lived on the nightstand for this very purpose. He moaned softly as Dean got down to business, working his muscles in his familiar pattern.

“C’mon, give it up or I’m gonna quit.” It was a tease. Dean was about as likely to leave his muscles painfully tight as he was to leave Baby out in the hail, and they both knew it.

“Just...it’s stupid.” He buried his face in sheet the best he could.

“Nervous about tomorrow?” Dean’s tone wasn’t teasing, just inquisitive.

“How’d you…”

“Cas, I know you.” It was a simple statement of fact. “You don’t have to be, you know. Bobby’s probably your biggest fan next to me and Charlie.”

He turned his face back to the side to speak. “He doesn’t know me.”

Dean’s hands stilled for a moment and he leaned over so their eyes could meet. “You threw me a birthday party and invited the whole family. That pretty much moved you to the top of the list in Bobby’s book.”

Cas could actually understand that. Though he hadn’t spent much time with the old man, it was clear that he thought the world of Dean, and that the ‘boy’ had gotten a shitty deal for the better part of his life. He grunted, in response to both the statement and Dean’s thumb dragging over a particularly tender spot between his shoulder blades.

“Also, he gave you a shop shirt.” Yes, he had. It was actually one of his favorites. Not just for sappy reasons, the damned thing was super soft and comfortable.

Dean seemed to think that was enough to prove his point, as he continued to work his muscles without further discussion. Cas didn’t really know how to make his own point without just coming out and saying that he wanted Dean’s family to like him so Dean wouldn’t have an easy excuse to start looking for something better, so he kept his mouth shut and let his lover lull him to sleep with the gentle pressure of his hands.

He was pretty sure that all of Dean’s hard work was undone and then some by the time they pulled up at Bobby’s the following day. Dean, for his part, seemed to notice and leaned over to brush a kiss to his temple before he could reach for the door handle.

“Do we need a safeword so you know you have an escape hatch? Like if you start talking about Adele I’ll text Charlie so she can call with some kind of emergency?”

A loud laugh escaped him, and he suspected that was exactly Dean’s goal. “Adele?”

“Dude, her voice is awesome, but half of her stuff is straight up depressing.”

Cas just shook his head. He’d never admit to having all of her music in his collection... for both of those reasons. He grinned at Dean and opened the door. Dean leaned over and grabbed the bag with the cake, and rather inexplicably a change of clothes for each of them (Dean had said it was just best to be prepared when you spent the day at Bobby’s) before he came around and put his free hand on Cas’ lower back to usher him toward the house.

The gentle pressure was comforting, and even more so when Dean didn’t move it away at Bobby’s appearance on the porch.

“Quit makin’ out on the front lawn and get in here, we’ve got work to do.”

Dean’s laugh was loud. “Don’t be jealous old man, just had to grab dessert.” Cas grinned as his likely unintentional double entendre.

Bobby adjusted his hat on his head as the approached. “Did you make it?”

“Nope. Cas’ brother owns a bakery. He made this specially for Cas to bring today.”

“You tryin’ to butter me up boy?” His gruff tone was offset by the crinkle of his eyes.

“Never hurts to come with chocolate bribes.”

“Knew you were a keeper.” It was a light offhand comment, but it had Cas flushing slightly.

Dean tucked the cake into the fridge and leaned against the counter, still close enough to be reassuring, but no longer touching. “So, what’s the plan for today? I figured you must have something needing done to set an early summons.”

“Can’t I just want to spend time with…” Dean’s face had arranged itself into clear challenge before the sentence was half out. “Fine, need to clear out that last stall of the garage. Contractor’s coming in this week to put in a new door.”

“Huh, maybe you should have been bribing us.”

Bobby didn’t pretend to look sheepish, instead grinning at them. “Boy, you’d best get your ass out there and start moving stuff before I regret getting the stuff for chili.”

Dean pumped his fist in victory. “Yes. Worth it. C’mon Cas, I’ll show you where I worked on my first engine.”

Before he could move toward the door, Bobby spoke up. “Nope, Cas here is gonna help me get dinner on quick.”

Dean looked...concerned, and Cas knew his own face was probably reflecting panic. “Ummm, I can’t really…”

“No arguin’. I know Dean’s the chef in the family, but we’re just gonna open a few cans a brown up some burger.”

“Sir, I honestly don’t know how to do that without burning it.”

“Huh. Guess Charlie wasn’t kidding. Well, somebody’s gotta teach ya. If Dean hasn’t, then I guess it falls to me.”

Cas glanced at Dean, who shrugged at him before silently mouthing ‘Adele’ with a questioning quirk of his eyebrows. Cas let a grin tilt his lips at the offer of escape but shook his head slightly.

Bobby, having caught at least part of the silent exchange, gave Dean a little shove. “Just get to work ya idjit. I'm not gonna hurt him.”

When Dean had gone, Bobby turned his attention to Cas. “Now, this is one of Dean’s favorites. He used to ask for it twice a week when they were here in the summers. You master this, and you’re in like Flynn.” He wasn’t really sure what to make of that, so he held his tongue as Bobby handed him a piece of notebook paper. “I even wrote it down for you. Don’t tell Dean, he’s been begging for the recipe for ages. This way, you can make it at home sometimes.”

“I really can’t cook. Dean only just taught me how to make oatmeal without lumps like last month.”

“We’re about to fix that.”

Under Bobby’s eagle eye, and with plenty of reassuring commentary and tips, Cas chopped and measured and stirred. He was instructed on spatula selection (Get a good sturdy one, don’t use one of Dean’s fancy silicone ones.), burger chopping, and proper signs of done-ness. He was sure Bobby could have done it in half the hour it took him, but when he’d finally mixed everything together in the slow cooker and pocketed the timer that would tell him when it was time to turn the device from high to low, he was feeling a little proud of himself.

“See, knew you could do it. The rest is just stirring once in a while. You can’t even burn it unless you forget it in the cooker overnight or something, and I think Dean has one of those new fangled ones that goes to a warming setting after a certain time. And if you can brown burger and read a recipe, there’s a shit ton of things you can make.” He folded the chili recipe and added it to a small stack of folded paper before handing it to Cas. “Got a few of the ones I know he likes, just in case you wanna make _him_ dinner sometime. Maybe not the healthy stuff he cooks most the time, but it never hurts to have some comfort food sometimes, ‘specially if you’ve had a shit week.” By the end of his speech, Bobby was looking a little flustered.

Cas was… Dean’s uncle had gone out of his way to _hand write_ recipes, with steps so simple a toddler could follow them if the chili recipe was any indication, for some of Dean’s favorite foods, and then _teach_ Cas how to follow them. He didn’t think before he had his arms wrapped tight around the old man, knocking his hat off in the process. “Thank you.” It was mumbled into the front of the man’s flannel shirt as Cas tried to pull himself together.

Bobby patted his back a little awkwardly, then pulled back from the hug. “You tuck those in your wallet now. No need for Dean to know ‘bout this.”

Cas did as he was told, and then Bobby was ushering him out to the garage.

The work was hard, and by the time they’d relocated the mountain of engine parts, tools, and boxes of random household offcasts, they were covered in a layer of dirt and rust. Bobby had waved them off to get cleaned up, and Cas was grateful that Dean had thought to bring them clean clothes.

Both men heaped praise on him during dinner, Dean teasingly accusing him of holding out on him so he didn’t have to cook, and Bobby telling him that he didn’t give himself enough credit for his skill. When he’d tried to remind them that Bobby had been _right there_ the whole time, they’d shot him identical warning looks, clearly not about to let him belittle his own efforts.

They’d cleaned up the kitchen together, Bobby scooping out a big bowl of thee leftover chili for them to take home, before taking their cake to the living room.

Cas had to give Gabe credit, he had been right. While Dean might be a pie person in general, the Dark and Dirty was clearly a winner, and Bobby had declared that he’d be keeping the remainder of _that_ for himself.

When Dean ducked out to the bathroom before they left, Bobby pulled him aside.

“Now, if you get stuck with one of those recipes, just give me a call and we’ll get it squared away.”

“Thank you Bobby.”

“No need to thank me boy, you just keep making Dean happy, and we’ll call it even.”

Dean was back and ushering him out the door before Cas could respond.

~~~

It was clear that Sunday had been officially nominated as family day. First Gabe, then Bobby. Then, his promotion party had trumped their scheduled evening with Jody and Donna so they’d been over last weekend, and now they were packed into the Impala with a bunch of brightly wrapped presents and a birthday cake, headed to Sam’s house to celebrate Billy’s sixth birthday. (His birthday was actually April 3rd, but it was impossible to plan a party for a Wednesday. Cas had been informed that there’d been cupcakes at school instead.)

He wasn’t nervous, or at least not in the way he had been when they’d been going to Bobby’s house. Dean had assured him that he’d know at least half the people there, and that the rest they’d be meeting together, as they were the parents of Billy’s friends from school, and Dean hadn’t met them either.

Still, the idea of going to a party for a kid he wasn’t actually related to, made him a little squirmy. If Eileen hadn’t made a point of cornering him at his own party to ensure that Dean had told him about it (he hadn’t) and that they would be there ( _THEY!_ ) he probably would have begged off.

As it was, they had to park half a block away from Sam’s house, and no one actually noticed that they’d arrived. They’d settled their stack of gifts on the table (several new Lego sets, as apparently Billy was obsessed) and the cake in the kitchen before they were greeted.

It was Hunter, Dean’s three-year old nephew, who spotted them first. He tugged at Cas’ sleeve until he got the hint and leaned over so the little boy could talk to him over the noise in the room.

When he had Cas’ full attention, he straightened his shoulders and held out his hand. “I’m glad you could make it.” Clearly he’d been coached on polite greetings, and he looked a little proud of himself when Cas shook his hand.

“I’m happy to be here.”

Hunter responded only with the universal gesture for wanting to be picked up. Cas obliged, swinging him to his hip as he stood. He’d never say it, but the kid was definitely his favorite. He looked so much like Dean, and had so many of the same mannerism it was a little uncanny. The boy leaned close to his ear.

“‘S loud in here Uncle Cas.”

Cas shot Dean a look at the new title he’d been granted, but Dean just grinned and shrugged. “It is kind of noisy. I suppose that’s how parties are though.”

Hunter seemed to consider this and then shrugged. “I guess.”

“What, I don’t even get a hug?” Dean had pasted on a dramatic sad face, but there was laughter in his eyes.

Again a brief thoughtful look, then tiny legs were wrapped around his hips and the rest of the child’s body was lunging toward Dean. Fortunately, Dean stepped into the hug before either Hunter or Cas lost their grip.

“Hey little dude.” Hunter leaned back into Cas when the hug was over.

“Hi Uncle Dean.”

“Should we go find the rest of your family so we can say hi?”

The grip on the back of his neck tightened. “People keep trippin’ on me.”

“How bout we get you over to the rest of the people your height so that stops happening.”

“I hate bein’ little.” It was said with the same expression Dean used when discussing compact cars, and Cas burst out laughing.

“Considering how tall your dad is, I doubt you’ll have that problem forever.” He and Hunter both turned to Dean for confirmation.

“He’s right. When your dad was your age, he was pretty short, maybe even shorter than you.”

Hunter didn’t look convinced, but he nodded anyway. The giant in question had finally noticed them, and was waving them over.

The next half hour was full of greetings and introductions. It was actually a lot less awkward than he’d imagined it might be. In addition to the running commentary provided by Hunter, who’d adamantly refused to release his grip on Cas, Dean’s brother didn’t stumble over fitting him with a title, simply introducing them as “My brother Dean and Cas.” He firmly believed there would have been a few questions if they hadn’t had a toddler for a buffer, but they did, so aside from a few raised eyebrows, the adults let it ride.

Bobby made a comment about his new best friend, and Charlie must have snapped at least a dozen pictures of the three of them with her phone before leaving them to a moment of peace before the chaos of the meal started. (“You guys are just _so cute!_ I have to show Eileen.”)

It was chaos. The dining table had been set for the dozen kids, but Hunter refused to join them. Instead, the three of them wound up seated around the coffee table in front of the couch. This had the additional perk of Dean getting his plate for him, since there was no way he could balance the toddler and his plate through the serving line.

The blessing of a children’s party is that the activity never stops. Charlie and Jo were collecting the plates from dinner even as Billy started to open his presents. Hunter, at this point, had settled into his lap, presumably for safety purposes.

Again, Sam and Eileen’s training was evident. The boy offered polite thanks, accompanied by hugs for his relatives, after each gift he received. When he’d opened the first of the gifts from them, he launched himself at Dean. “You guys are the best uncles _ever_. I love Legos. I can build a car and a dragon and-”

“Dude, I’m really glad you like them, but there’s four more up there from us.” He was out of Dean’s arms and back to his presents as quickly as he’d arrived. There was a brief moment when it looked like he might erupt into a temper tantrum when his mom told him that he couldn’t open his new blocks, but she cut it short by putting the next gift in front of him.

Ellen carried out the cake, with six lit candles, as soon as the last gift was opened. It was clear this family had practice. The song was sung, cake and ice cream passed out and eaten, and everything cleaned up in under half an hour. Cas was almost startled when he found himself giving Hunter a final hug and passing him off to Sam as they said their goodbyes.

Dean was grinning ear to ear as they walked back to the car. He caught Cas’ attention over the top of the car for a second before they climbed in. “Best Uncles EVER.”

His grin of pure pride was so endearing, Cas was caught off guard by the fresh wave of affection that flooded him. _Jesus I love this man._ He couldn’t help but grin back.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm super sorry this took so long to post and that the two parts of the chapter are pretty unrelated, but I hope you'll like it well enough to forgive me!
> 
> (If you're struggling, just think about little Hunter's cute face and *try* to stay mad...)


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas (willingly) gets tangled a little deeper in the web of Dean's family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are. I highly recommend reading them in alternating chapters rather than separately.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

He wasn’t at all surprised that Dean was still engaged in Ben’s life. He’d wondered more than once how Dean had managed to walk away from boy, given the kind of person Cas knew him to be. He had been surprised, over the last few months, that Dean never spoke ill of Lisa. He’d simply noted that their relationship wasn’t healthy and left it at that. It made sense now, though. Lisa gave Dean Ben.

Dean spoke so highly of him, had recounted endless stories about his love of soccer as a kid, his good grades, his interest in mechanical engineering and cars in general. He was excited for Cas to meet him, he said they’d have to plan a camping trip for the three of them this summer.

He had mixed feelings about meeting the boy.  _ Young man. He’s almost eighteen now.  _

On one hand, he wanted to share this part of Dean’s life. He wanted to share all of the parts of Dean’s life. 

That was the problem, though. They were friends. Fuck buddies. He had no delusions that they were anything more. They’d been sleeping together for months, and Dean hadn’t given any indication that he wanted more than that.

When Dean started dating again, Ben would be one more person that he would lose. 

~~~

He went into work early the next day, so he’d be able to get home and have time to shower by the time Dean was done. The flexibility in his new schedule was both a blessing and a curse. On days like today, when he just needed some wiggle room for his personal schedule, it was great. As Amber had pointed out though, on days when he had to work a long shift to get training sessions in for the nurses, or just cover for a call-in, it would suck. 

Dean was waiting for him in the kitchen when he’d finished dressing, freshly showered and in clean clothes. Cas quirked a brow at him.

“I showered at work. I used to do it all the time, but the given the choice between the rusty stall there and the slice of heaven we’ve got here, home wins every time.” He grinned at Cas.

“So, what’s the plan?” They’d spent hours talking about Ben, but as far as today went, Dean had just asked when he’d be ready.

Dean shrugged. “Usually, I just pick him up and we eat at the diner by his house. Talk about our week, maybe drive around a little. He likes to be home by nine anyway so he can do his homework. Freaking little nerd.” 

It was said with such a look of pride that Cas couldn’t help but laugh. “Come on then, I’m hungry. And, aside from the Roadhouse, I haven’t been out to eat since Valentine’s Day. There’s this guy who makes me eat healthy food every day, and I’d kill for some country fried steak.”

“Hey! Nobody’s forcing you to eat what I cook!”

“I’m totally kidding. I love your cooking.”

They laughed and joked all the way to Ben’s house. Cas suspected that Dean was just trying to keep him from tying himself in knots like he’d done on the way to Bobby’s house, and he was grateful. His suspicion was confirmed when they’d parked at the curb and Dean turned to him.

“Remember Adele?” Cas laughed, just as he’d done the first time. “Same rules apply. OK?”

The back door was opening before he could reply.

The diner was only a few minutes away, and Dean performed introductions on the way.

“I feel like I know you already. Dad talks about you all the time. ”

When they’d settled into the booth, Ben locked onto Cas. His intent expression so closely mirrored Dean’s ‘I’m giving you my full attention’ look that he couldn’t contain a grin. Biology or not, this was Dean’s kid.

“You’re an oncology nurse, right, just got promoted?”

Ben’s question caught him off guard. Clearly Dean  _ had  _ talked about him. “Yup. To charge nurse.”

“Dean says that’s like the supervisor. Cassidy, my girlfriend, is planning on going into nursing. She wants to help people, but she doesn’t want to deal with medical school, and she thinks being a nurse will be easier. I tried to tell her that nursing is hard too, but...anyway, maybe you could talk to her sometime. I worry that she’s gonna hate it when she realizes what’s really involved, and she doesn’t have any backup plans.”

“Umm, sure. I’d be happy to. Dean can give you my number.”

Ben shot Dean a look, and he grimaced and dug out his phone. Ben’s phone buzzed a few seconds later and he grinned.

“Thanks. I’ll have her call from my phone, first. You can give her your number if you want, but I don’t want to pressure you or anything.” He was focused on his phone as he spoke, and then Cas' own phone was buzzing in his pocket. Ben looked up with a grin. “So you’ll recognize when we call.”

_ Is it weird that I have his son’s phone number? What the hell is the protocol for keeping in touch with- _ Dean’s hand on his thigh tuned him back into the conversation as he changed the subject.

“Speaking of plans, you all set now? I know you were waiting on that one acceptance letter, but you didn’t say where it was for. You must have gotten it by now. It’s almost graduation.” 

Ben rubbed the back of his neck, another of Dean’s familiar gestures.

“I kinda wanted to talk to you about that.”

“We can drop Cas off first if…”

“No, it’s not that. I’ve just been putting this off.”

“Benjamin Isaac Braeden, what do they say about procrastination?”  _ Jesus, that should not be hot. _

“Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder.” It was a little funny seeing the almost adult in front of him hang his head like a little boy.

“So?”

“OK, so, you know I’m going into mechanical engineering.” It was said with a glance at Cas.

“Old news little dude. You’ve been talking about that since you turned your first wrench.”

“Right, just in case Cas didn’t know. Hey, Cas, Cassidy…”

“Stop stalling.”

“I wasn’t!” Dean’s look just got a little firmer, and Cas had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. “Fine. So, I had an idea. There’s a program at Lawrence State that’s really well respected. I got accepted a while ago. Anyway, that’s not the thing I’ve been procrastinating about. I want to work on cars, and I don’t really have any practical experience besides working on the truck with you when I was little and that one class I took last year. I thought, maybe I could hedge my bets. There’s a four part class at the college that’s kind of like an apprenticeship. There’s a classroom section and then you have to register with a master mechanic to do the lab part of the class, I was wondering if maybe I could work with you.”

Cas could literally see Dean working through his thoughts on the idea. First, excitement, then elation, then a rapid turn toward doubt. Ben must have seen the same thing.

“I don’t want you to feel obligated or anything, and you don’t have to pay me, I just thought it would be really cool. Working on cars with you is what got me interested in mechanical engineering in the first place.”

Dean had schooled his face into a neutral smile. “Ben, my first impulse is to say yes, but I’ve never trained anyone, and I don’t want to fuck up something that important. It's not about money. I have no clue if there’s any special requirements for the shop, things like that. I’m not saying no, not at all, I think it would be awesome if you came to work with me, but I need to do some thinking about it.”

“I’m not worried about the training part. You’re an awesome teacher. If you’re really interested though, I’ve got a thing at home about it that’s specifically for the sponsoring shop. It lays out pretty much everything you’d need to know, and there’s a few email addresses in there for shop owners who work as sponsors who volunteered to answer questions.”

“Alright, that sounds like a good place to start. I’ll look into it, and I won’t procrastinate. Why’d you wait so long to talk to me about it?”

 

“Well, first, I had to get accepted. As soon as I found out about the program, Lawrence moved to my first choice, but they’re kinda picky. Then, I had to see what kind of financial aid I could get. All my classes will be paid for, so I just have room and board to cover. Then, I wanted to see how my schedule would look. I want to be able to move out, but the dorms are pretty pricey. Lawrence doesn’t require you to live on campus for your first year like a lot of schools do, so that’s lucky, but I had to make sure I’d have time for the program and school and studying and still have time for a job. Once I had  _ that _ squared away in my head, I had to talk to Mom about it.”

“What does she have to say about it?”

“Ummm. Well…” Dean just raised his eyebrow and waited. “She thinks I should go to a bigger school and stay at home.”

“Those are valid thoughts. A bigger school might offer you more career options, and living at home would save you money.” 

Jesus the man was a perfect model for how divorced parents _should_ act. He just couldn't get over it.

“Dean, you know me. I did my research. Lawrence has a great placement rate, and they are they only school that offers this training program. It’s actually a five year hybrid with mechanic’s certifications  _ and _ a mechanical engineering degree. It’s what makes the placement rate so high. Employer’s like the hands-on aspect. As far as living with Mom goes…”

“Yeah, you don’t have to explain that part. No college kid really wants to live with his mom.”

“So, you might be interested? You don’t have to decide right away. I have until the start of classes to turn in my sponsor contract, and I’ll find another shop if I have to. I’m not trying to-”

Dean held out his hands as if to ward off the words. “Ben, I already said I’d look into it. If the shop qualifies, we’ll talk about it some more before we make a final decision. You literally can’t convince me anymore than you already have. Now, let’s talk about something fun. I was thinking we could take Cas up to the cabin this summer. Dude’s never been fishing!”

The rest of the meal was a pleasant combination of teasing (How did you get to be old without learning to fish?!), catching up (Of course I aced the test, Dad. Jeez, I studied my a-er-butt off!), and general discussion of college life. Cas took the lead on that, as Dean hadn’t gone. He got a sideways look from Dean when he talked about drinking at frat parties, but other than that it was just...easy.

Now, if he could just get the idea of converting the unused part of the basement into an apartment out of his head, he’d be great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a Dad!AU square on my bingo card, and this is giving me all kinds of ideas. That aside, I love that Dean wants Cas to meet his kid, and I love that Ben takes to Cas so easily, and I absolutely love that Dean has talked to Ben about Cas (a lot) in the past.
> 
> Also, yes, Ben does kind of waiver between Dean/Dad when he talks to Dean. From what I understand, Lisa was kind of a bitch about reminding both of them that Dean isn't really his father, but Ben definitely thinks of him that way, so that's how it comes out. (Lawrence State, as far as I know, is a completely made up. It's the college that happens to be located pretty close to where they live. I have NO idea if a training program like what Ben describes is a thing, but I think it would be really cool if there was one.)


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dammit Gabe!
> 
> Or the one where Gabriel has a big mouth and Cas has to deal with the consequences. (Which he might not hate.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are. I highly recommend reading them in alternating chapters rather than separately.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

> Cassie,
> 
> From what I understand, congratulations are in order! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you’d gotten a promotion. Gabriel tells me that your boyfriend threw you a surprise party to celebrate. He says Dean and his family got you a very nice gift basket. 
> 
> I’m very glad that we’ll get to meet them while we’re there. I feel like I’m completely out of touch with your life. So much has happened since the last time we really sat down to talk! Gabe says Dean’s cooking Easter dinner on Sunday and that his cooking is worth being excited about. He has had so many wonderful things to say about your Dean.
> 
> I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that you have finally found a man who treats you well. You deserve to be happy and loved. (I also heard that he’s “absolutely yummy”.)
> 
> We plan to arrive on Friday night, sometime after dinner. We had planned to stay at your house, but we can find a hotel if there’s other family needing the rooms. Just let me know so we can make arrangements. 
> 
> Love you to pieces!
> 
> Anna

Cas set his phone down gently and ran his hands through his hair once, then gripped it tight and pulled. He clenched his jaw tight, and did not scream. 

He was going to fucking  _ kill _ Gabriel.

He’d completely forgotten that he’d invited Anna, Ishim and the girls to come down on Easter. Honestly, the invitation had been made on a whim at Christmas, and his sister hadn’t had a clue what their plans would be. Neither of them had mentioned it since.

He suspected that Gabriel had a lot to do with her sudden decision to visit. Fucking Gabe!

He picked up the phone and punched Gabe's face with far more force than necessary to dial.

“Sweet Love, this is Gabriel, how can I sweeten your day?”

“What the fuck did you do?!”

“Ummm. I’m going to need more information so I don’t confess to something you don’t know about.”

“I just got an email from Anna.”

“Oh. That.” The little shit had the nerve to sound like he was grinning.

“Gabriel, she thinks Dean is my boyfriend. They’re coming to spend Easter weekend. In one week, they’ll be at me house!”

“Cassie, I think you’re making a big deal-”

“Yes Gabriel. Yes. I’m making a big deal about the fact that you called our sister and evidently told her that my  _ boyfriend _ treats me like a prince.”

“You know that word isn’t actually a swear.”

“He’s not my goddamned boyfriend! I have told you that. Many,  _ many _ times.”

“Cas. I’ve  _ seen _ you two together. You’re so in love it’s almost gross. You guys are almost too sweet for me to handle, and you know how much I love sweet things.”

“We’re not...He doesn’t...It isn’t  _ like _ that Gabe. We’re just friends.”

“Who hold hands, and snuggle on the couch, and call each other babe...don’t get me started. I don’t care what you guys call it. He’s your boyfriend.”

“Gabe, he’s really just a friend. We’re...close. You had no right to tell Anna anything about him.”

“OK, I really am sorry about that. It’s just, she  _ asked _ . Every time I talk to her she asks how you’re doing and if you’re still trying to get over Fergus. You’ve been so  _ happy _ and she’s been so  _ worried _ .”

“You’re making hot cross buns for Sunday.”

“Of course.”

“And carrot cake. And pie. Gabriel, you owe Dean at least an awesome pie.”

“I will make Dean the most excellent pie he’s ever had. I’m really so-”

“Just, Gabe, please... I’m not sure how Dean’s going to handle this, so we might have to make some adjustments to the plans for Sunday.”

“Dean is going to be fine. If he freaks out, let me know, and I’ll figure something out.”

“I hate you.” He officially sounded like a four year old. He didn’t care.

“I love you too Cassie.”

For once, Cas hung up first.

~~~

Dean had not freaked out.

Dean had not only not freaked out, he’d volunteered to be his boyfriend for the weekend. More accurately, he’d said they could ‘pretend to be madly in love.’ 

_ Pretend. Riiiight. _ That ship sailed a long time ago. Regardless…

Dean hadn’t really been far off the mark when he’d said they wouldn’t have to act too hard, a point that had been proven when Dean’s own brother had called them out for necking on the front lawn. 

Hadn’t that afternoon gone down hill fast.

He’d punched Dean’s brother. Actually threw his fist at the man’s jaw and knocked him on his ass. It was not his proudest moment. 

Worse, he hadn’t even known he was going to do it until it was done. He’d just seen the look on Dean’s voice when his little brother, the person he loved most in the world, had called his son a problem, and wham. Down went Sammy.

And he hadn’t felt bad about it. Well, he’d felt bad for hitting the man, but he’d seriously needed some sense knocked into him. Thank god for Eileen. Sam’s wife had not only not been mad, she’d managed to put into words exactly what Cas had been feeling. At least  _ one _ of them knew how to use their words. 

She’d been banging cupboard doors open and closed when Cas had gone back into the kitchen. She’d stopped instantly when she saw him, and dug around in the freezer until she found a bag of peas and sat him down at the island and made him ice his knuckles. Clearly, he was not made for physical violence. His hand really hurt!

“I’m sorry I hit your husband.” He couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes. Jesus, he’d reacted like an angry child.

She snorted. “I’m sorry my husband was an asshole. However, if you plan to go around punching people, you might want to learn how to make a fist or you might break your hand next time.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m not really a fighter. I just…”

“I heard what you heard Cas. I saw what it did to Dean.”

“He loves Ben so much, and he’s just been...he’s so good with him. He’s so proud, and he  _ should _ be. Ben’s a great kid, really smart, and...I never knew Lisa, but if you spend ten minutes with the two of them, you’ll understand. And Dean’s just been keeping that part of his life separate so he wouldn’t hurt Sam. I couldn’t…”

“I wish I had known. I knew they had a huge fight over something back then. Dean stopped coming to the house all the time like he used to, and they didn’t talk for months. I had no idea what it was about, and Sam wouldn’t tell me. Just said his brother needed to move on. I thought he’d been talking about going back to Lisa, so I just left it. If I had just  _ known _ .”

“Dean is probably the most stubborn person I know, and, having met the family, I’d say it’s a pretty common trait. It’s not your fault. Dean probably could have explained it better, Sam could have listened better, whatever, it’s done now.” He stood up and moved to the kitchen window. He could see the two men grinning widely and finally talking. “Now that they’re on the same team, the rest will be much easier. Dean wasn’t kidding about having Ben on Easter. He’s almost eighteen and it’s the first time he’s actually gotten to celebrate a holiday with his kid on the right day. I have no idea how we’re going to pull this off. And of course, my family will be here too, just to add a little extra drama to the day.”

“It will be fine. If you haven’t noticed, their family isn’t exactly traditional. Sam’s only blood relative is Dean, but you’ve seen our family gatherings.”

“That’s true, I’m just wondering how we go about introductions without it being really awkward.”

“Hmmm. Well, from what I remember, Ben’s met everyone. We didn't see Lisa much, but when they were together, Dean brought Ben everywhere. He might even remember most of them. He’s been a part of the family for a long time actually, just a little estranged. It’ll be easy to explain it just like that to your family, divorces can get messy, nobody denies that. As for our family, I’ll make sure Sam paves the way on that front. It’s the least he can do.”

They might be able to pull this off. Easter dinner might not turn into a bad remake of a National Lampoon movie. With Sam and Eileen on board, they just might be able to pull this off.

~~~

"You hit my brother."

He turned to face Dean. They'd just closed the door behind the couple. "I am so sorry Dean. There's no excuse for-"

"It was hot. I know it shouldn't be hot, but you were all tense and muscly...mmm."

This was not how he'd thought this conversation would play out. Not at all. "I...ummm."

"Let me see your hand. I'm going to have to teach you how to do that without hurting yourself." Cas snorted as Dean examined his hand. His knuckles were bruising up, though the swelling had gone down. "At least you didn't break it. That would have been fun to explain to your family. 'How'd you break your hand Cas?'" Dean had pitched his voice up to mime Anna, and Cas chuckled. "'Well, my boyfriend's brother was being mean, so I hit him in the face.' Seriously babe, that was...no one's ever hit somebody for me before."

"Well, maybe they should have."

"Dude, you're like Buddhist monk level patient. I just can't get over it. Bam! Sam down! He's like at least six inches taller than you."

"I was very angry."

"Like I said, hot." Dean dragged the t out like a hiss and grabbed the front of Cas' shirt to pull him close. "Wanna show me your muscles again before bed? I bet you could put me right where you want me..."

He certainly wasn't going to argue with that plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We know, everybody knows, they're in love. They just haven't realized that they're both in love. Pull your heads out of your butts boys! You literally described your own life as ridiculously coupley. WTF?!
> 
> Side note, if you're interested in more of my head cannon, you'll often find it in the comments. Have a question? Ask away!


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Setting up for the big day is a more work than Cas thought it'd be. Fortunately, keeping busy helps to keep his mind off of the bigger picture...mostly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are. I highly recommend reading them in alternating chapters rather than separately.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked. This one is for the "Mutual Pining" square (B10).  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

Cas knew they handled tension in different ways. When he got anxious, he got quiet and his body locked up. Dean, on the other hand, seemed to fly into action.  _ Any _ action.

There were lists.

Lists of people, lists of food to be served, a separate grocery list (organized by aisle), lists of things to do around the house, lists of possible activities for the weekend...the island was papered in lists.

“Dean, we are not buying a new dining table and chairs.”

“Cas…”

“No! First of all, if you had asked, there are leaves for the table in the basement.”

“How are we going to fit eighteen people at the table?” He waved the guest list in front of Cas’ face, as if he might have missed the giant  **18** circled in red pen at the bottom of the page.

“With the leaves, it’s  _ made _ to seat at least sixteen. Billy and Hunter are little enough to sit at the ends with an adult I think.”

“We don’t have enough chairs.”

“There are folding chairs in the basement.” He held up his hand when it looked like Dean might protest. “They’re nice ones. They’ll be perfectly fine.” 

At some point, his lover had become obsessed with making sure that their house looked  _ perfect  _ for their family meal. Part of that was probably his own fault, after his insistence that the yard be cleaned up and replanted, but the rest...he could tell Dean was nervous.

Dean rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at the lists. “I just…”

He didn’t have to finish his sentence. Cas knew. Ben was going to be here. For the first time, Dean would have his entire family in one place, and the man  _ needed _ everything to go smoothly. Cas’ family was just another layer of things Dean was trying to work around to meet that goal. Maybe he should have let Dean move the thing to Bobby’s house, but he’d selfishly  _ wanted _ Dean with him when his family invaded this time. It felt  _ important _ .

“Babe, it’s going to be great. Your family is awesome, and Ben knows them even if it’s been a while since he’s seen them. My family...well, we don’t have to see Anna and her crew often, so...Anyway, I picked up frames today, did you want to help me rearrange?”

Dean gave him a wide grin. He’d come home yesterday with a little pile of pictures from Charlie. He’d been both excited and anxious when he’d reiterated her suggestion that they make some changes to the living room display. Cas, though, thought it was perfect. 

Dean grinned up at him now. “I’ve got a couple of Ben that I’d like to put up as well.” 

He matched Dean’s smile with his own. This house had been so lonely, and in just a few months, Dean had turned it into the family home he’d dreamed of from the moment he’d first seen it.

~~~

Rather than taking Ben out to the diner this week, he'd joined them at home. 

“God, I missed your cooking!” Ben, it turned out, had table manners pretty similar to Dean’s. Neither bothered to finish a bite before speaking.  Dean laughed, but he looked pleased.

“Please tell me you’re making macaroni for Sunday!”

“Maybe.”

Cas chuckled. He was incredibly familiar with Dean’s lists at this point, and macaroni and cheese was definitely on the menu. He’d been surprised, thinking of the blue box, but he hadn’t questioned it.

“Cas, have you had it yet?”

“Macaroni and cheese? It’s one of the few foods I can cook without starting the kitchen on fire.”

“No dude,  _ Dean’s _ macaroni and cheese. He makes it from scratch. It’s like super gooey with melted cheese in the middle and there’s these little pieces of brown cheese on the edge that are my absolute favorite. I’d eat it every day if I could.”

Oh, well, that made more sense. He grinned at Ben before shooting a teasing look at Dean. “He never makes stuff like that for me. All my dinners are  _ healthy _ .” 

“Never heard you complain before.”

Ben laughed. “Man, you’ve been missing out. Just wait, you’ll see.”

It was nice, just this little bit of time where they could laugh and talk. He liked seeing Dean and Ben together in their space. 

Dean gave Ben a tour after dinner while Cas cleaned up, then they settled in the living room to speak more seriously. He knew that Dean had been keeping his mind busy at work by looking into Ben’s suggestion about the training program. They’d talked about it last night, in the quiet time after their brothers had gone, and he knew Dean still had some questions. He watched their animated discussion. Clearly, both had done their homework on the matter, and Ben was able to meet him point for point.

“Well, I still gotta talk to Uncle Bobby about it, but I think we should be able to make it work.”

When Ben had given Dean a huge, excited hug, Dean had flushed a little and declared it was time for him to head back home so Ben could ‘do his nerd thing.’

~~~

_ Holy fucking shit. _ It should not be a big deal. It was just a few clothes and a handful of crap from the top of his dresser. But...seeing his watch resting next to Dean’s, their clothes dumped together in the hamper and their underwear side by side in the drawer… He didn’t want it to end when his family went home. 

It was getting harder every day to bite his lip. This man was everything to him, and he had to fight with himself not to just blurt it out. He held himself back with the reminder of what he stood to lose. Not the meals, or the help around the house, but his best friend, his partner. If Dean thought Cas was falling for him, he’d move out just to protect Cas from getting hurt in the long run. And fuck if that didn’t just make him love Dean more.

He wasn’t worried anymore about the fate of their weekend. They were a solid team, they moved together as a unit, and Dean could read him with just a glance. What he _was_ worried about was how he’d survive when they moved back into their separate spaces, such as they were. Every day, their lives were just a little more tangled together, even their families mixed up together in a way he didn’t think they’d ever really be able to unravel.

He pulled himself out of his funk at Dean’s mention of food. This was the last night they’d have alone for a few days, and Cas was not going to waste it wallowing in a pity party for one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Argh. The level of oblivious makes me cringe. If it weren't Dean and Cas, I'd have felt like it was overdone several chapters ago, but these two have a uniquely huge ability to be completely blind to being lovable.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weekend is nothing like he thought it would be, and that's just fine by Cas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This work was inspired by DeanandCasBingo on Tumblr. I started with Life Changes, but I really wanted to flesh out Cas' side of the story, so here we are. I highly recommend reading them in alternating chapters rather than separately.  
> \- Chapters for prompt fills will be marked, this isn't one of them. :)  
> \- Tags will be added and/or changed as we move forward.  
> \- I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing, but people seem to like it, so I guess I'll keep doing it.  
> \- No beta, all mistakes are mine. Unfortunately, I don't own the characters, but I can dream.

He’d seen Dean nervous. He’d survived a week of detailed lists, and deep cleaning the house, and even reviewing the non-existent dietary restrictions of all of their prospective dinner guests in preparation for the weekend. Tense Dean was generally a tightly wound ball of activity. It had lasted right up until the doorbell had chimed, signalling the arrival of his family, when he had straight up froze with his hand stretched out to the door. He squeezed his shoulder gently and maneuvered around him to open the door just as the second ring silenced. 

Dean’s smile looked a little pained as he helped get all the coats and shoes properly stowed, and Cas couldn’t help but move close to soothe him, letting his hand rest on Dean's lower back. He could almost feel the tension seep out of his lover with each slow stroke of his thumb against his spine. By the time they had gotten a movie on for the girls and settled in at the island, beer and wine in hand, he was nearly back to his charming self.

When his sister started grilling them, he was ready for Dean to freeze right back up. He was stunned when, instead, Dean answered without hesitation. It wasn’t the words so much  _ I knew I had a crush on your brother by the time I moved in,  _ it was the way his cheeks and the tips of his ears went faintly pink and the way he rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, like it was a confession he was a little embarrassed to be making, that made it so... It didn’t feel like a hastily made up line, it felt  _ real _ . 

He didn’t have time to dwell on the possibility or what it might mean. His sister, despite Dean’s perfect answer, still wanted more, so he did exactly what Dean seemed to have done, and told his sister about their Valentine’s date. Not the facts about how it had come to be, but the way he chose to remember it, as their first date.

“And that’s it, you’ve just been together ever since?”

They shrugged in unison. That pretty much  _ was _ it. “We fit.”

~~~

He wouldn’t say exactly, that he’d forgotten that they had company. Rather, the thought that he might want to modify his normal Saturday routine simply hadn’t crossed his mind. He blamed it on the lack of coffee. 

When he’d wandered groggily into the kitchen, Dean was standing in front of the coffee pot pouring coffee into two mugs. When he was close enough, he leaned on Dean’s back and snuggled into his neck. 

Dean looked over his shoulder and gave him a grin. “G’morning sunshine.” He just grunted in reply. There was nothing particularly good about  _ any  _ morning until there was coffee. 

Except maybe Dean. Dean was good any time of day. “Where’s my kiss? Coffee and kisses. Fallin’ down on the job.” He didn’t move his face away from Dean’s skin, and the words were mumbled.

Dean laughed softly, then turned around without even making him move.  _ Good man. _ Warm arms slid around his waist, and Dean pressed a quick kiss to his forehead.  _ Really, that’s all I get? _ When he leaned in for another kiss, it looked like Dean might be going to say something, but it could wait until  _ after _ he’d been greeted properly. 

His lover didn’t respond immediately, which was not normal, but when Cas bit down on Dean’s bottom lip, he made a little noise and got with the program.

The feminine laugh from behind him pulled him instantly out of his morning fog.  _ Oh, shit! _

“I see you still aren’t a morning person.”

He looked up at Dean, feeling a bit betrayed. Why hadn’t he said Anna was up? Dean was clearly trying to look serious, but the crinkles at his eyes spoke to the humor he found in the situation. “I tried to tell you.” It was whispered, but he was sure his sister had heard anyway. He buried his face in Dean’s chest for a minute, then turned around.

Anna was sitting at the island, a wide grin on her face, and one of his favorite coffee mugs cradled between her two hands. “Good morning Anna.”

“Should I leave the room so Dean can finish his job? Coffee and kisses was it?” She snorted, but managed to straighten her face before she broke into giggles. Dean was shaking with silent laughter behind him.  _ Traitor! _ He wrinkled his nose a little at her before ramming his heel lightly into Dean’s shin and pulling away. Dean picked up one of the mugs and held it out to him like a peace offering. 

He took the offered mug and joined his sister at the island, breathing in a deep lungful of the heavenly scent before taking a big gulp. Dean always sweetened it perfectly, and had started adding an ice cube after the first time he’d seen him burn his tongue. He had followed, taken the seat on his other side, and was sipping at a much more respectable pace.

“I trust you slept well?”

“I did, but you know I’m an early riser. I was surprised to find Dean already out here.”

“He’s a  _ morning person _ .” He let his distaste for the idea through in his tone, and Anna didn’t hold back her laughter this time.

“Oh my God! I can’t believe you’re still so grumpy in the morning. How does he put up with you?”

A number of inappropriate things crossed his mind, but before he could get any of them out, Dean had leaned around him. “That’s where the coffee comes in. Once he’s caffeinated, he’s an alright guy.” He leaned forward and bit Dean’s shoulder for feeding into his sister’s mirth. “Usually.”

He sat back and started to work on his coffee more seriously. Clearly, he’d need it to keep up with these two. “I’m surprised the girls aren’t up. It’s almost eight.”

“They’re in their room on their tablets. I figured I’d let you guys wake up before I subjected you to their constant arguing.” She shrugged. “I would have made breakfast, but I know you never have anything in your kitchen besides cereal.”

“You’re wrong. Double wrong.” At Anna’s quizzical look, he clarified. “ _ Dean’s _ kitchen is incredibly well stocked. But I’m glad you didn’t, aside from the fact that he gets all butthurt when things get moved, I think he was planning to make breakfast.” If they could tease, he damn well could too.

“I don’t- You never put things where they belong! Then I have to hunt them down the next time I want to use them!” 

Fair point. He could manage emptying the dishwasher, since Dean hadn’t moved their common dinner wear, but anything else, well, he didn’t use the stuff, so unless he watched which cabinet Dean had taken it from, he had no idea where it belonged.

Anna was giving them that look that Charlie gave them all the time. The one that was a combination of laughter and sugar shock. He shook his head. “But you’re going to make breakfast?” He knew he sounded hopeful. Several of his favorites were on the list of possibilities, and he didn’t even have to wait until after their morning yoga.

“Waffles?”

“Yes please.” He grinned. It was number two after eggs Benedict, unless…he turned to Dean. “Did you-”

“Strawberries are in the fridge. You can cut them up while I work on the batter.”

“You are my favorite person.” He leaned forward for another kiss before finishing up his coffee.

Dean stood and stretched his arms over his head before reaching for his empty mug. Cas watched as he moved around the kitchen effortlessly, setting out a mixing bowl and gathering his ingredients. Anna leaned closer to him, watching for a second before speaking low. “He’s actually going to make waffles from scratch?” 

Cas nodded. Dean had explained once that the ingredients for pancake or waffle batter were really cheap, but boxed mix was more expensive. When he was younger, every penny of his food budget needed to go as far as possible, so it was an easy way to save money. Fortunately, he’d grown out of the need for cheap syrup. “He has the recipe memorized. They’re awesome.” 

Dean looked up from his mixing and smiled at him. “I don’t know about that, but they’re better than those frozen things you used to eat.”

“Waffles are a special treat at our house. Too much work, and I use a box mix.”

“Weekend food.” Cas said. “He saves all the best breakfast stuff for the weekend because of the prep time.” Dean shot him a reproachful look and he clarified. “I’m definitely not complaining. He makes the best granola ever, so we usually have that during the week.”

"You make your own granola?” Anna looked at Dean like he might be an endangered species.

“Sort of. It was supposed to be cookies the first time, but I fu-uh-screwed up the recipe. Cas liked it anyway, so…” He shrugged.

“He’s a keeper.” This was whispered in his ear, intentionally low enough that Dean wouldn’t hear. Cas met his sister’s eye for a second and was surprised by how earnest her expression was. It wasn’t an off the cuff remark, his sister really did approve of Dean. The sound of the front door opening and closing quietly pulled his attention before he could formulate a response. He and Dean looked in the direction of the hall, but Anna just shook her head. “Ishim went for a run. He’s training for a race.”

Dean looked down at the batter he’d just set aside. “I can make him eggs instead. My little brother is a marathoner, and I know he has special nutrition program depending on where he is in his training schedule.” Dean looked so concerned, like he might personally be responsible for ruining Ishim’s training regime by planning a carb-loaded breakfast. The man just  _ cared _ so much. Cas couldn’t get over it.

“It's fine. First of all, he’s on vacation, and that includes his normal diet. Second, if he wanted something particular, he could make it himself. He’s a big boy.”

Anna’s husband had joined them by this point, walking over to give Anna a kiss on the cheek. She gave him a little shove. “Ugh. You’re gross!” The man laughed and pulled his shirt up to wipe his face. “Go shower before breakfast. Dean’s making waffles.”

Ishim pointed at Dean on his way out of the kitchen. “I knew I liked you.” He grinned and headed down the hall.

“Well, unless you guys need help, I’m going to let the girls out of their cell.”

“We’re fine, but ummm...maybe take your time? Breakfast won’t be ready for at least another twenty minutes. Longer if somebody doesn’t start cutting strawberries.”

Anna grinned at Dean. “I’ll give you exactly twenty minutes, but if you’re making out when I come back, I’m taking over your waffle iron.”

Cas laughed when Dean blushed bright red. “I’ll try to control myself now that I know we might have an audience.”

His sister’s laughter followed her out of the room.

~~~

Dean had their Sunday scheduled down to the minute. It started promptly at 7 with them showering and grabbing a quick breakfast and ran through having snacks available after the meal just in case guests lingered long enough to get hungry again. 

It was shot from the start. Despite the fact that he’d  _ never _ known Dean to sleep in, he was startled awake well after 9 o’clock by the other man’s frantic flailing. They were barely standing when the sound of laughter, “Charlie?”, from the kitchen had them headed down the hall.  _Did no one know how to tell time in this family?_

This did not bode well for the rest of the day.

Despite the rather late start, and after being shot down for fun-times in their shared shower (though it was worth copping a feel just to see the scandalized look on Dean’s face when his hands had shot down to cover his crotch,  _ Dude, like half of our family is right on the other side of that wall! _ ), the day progressed smoothly, if not to Dean’s schedule.

Dean may have planned an ideal family Easter, but no one could have imagined the way that things had come together. Ellen and Jo had kept the kids occupied outside with Easter baskets and games while the majority of the prep work was done. Once Dean's macaroni was in the oven, Anna and Eileen sat them down to make name cards and then helped them set the table while Ishim, Sam, and Gabriel had hidden filled plastic Easter eggs in the backyard.

Letting the kids decide who sat where, and listening to their logic on the matter (fortunately Jo didn’t overhear Billy proclaim that Charlie couldn’t sit next to her or she’d be too scared to eat, leaving her sitting between Abby and Bella) made for a seating chart that guaranteed interesting conversation. Cas was just glad that he was sandwiched between Dean and Hunter, (Hunter’s idea, because Cas was his favoritest person, and Dean was Cas’ favoritest person.) and that Ben was on Dean’s other side. As far as he understood, the only other rule had been that the boys were all on one side, and the girls on the other. Definitely not the arrangement Dean likely had in mind.

Still, with the table, and their plates, loaded down with delicious food (God had Been ever been right about Dean’s macaroni!), and conversation flowing freely, Dean looked...pleased with the chaos. 

Hours later, when they’d packed up the dinner, found all of the Easter eggs, eaten as many of the bunny shaped carrot cupcakes, lemon meringue and coconut cream pies as they could, and hugged the last family members on their way out the door, they flopped onto the couch with matching sighs of exhaustion. 

He snuggled into Dean’s side and let the quiet of the house flow around them. The weekend had been an overwhelming success, and he hadn’t had to tell one lie. 

“Think we can get the whole lot here for Christmas?”

Dean had spoken the question softly into his hair, but he leaned back to meet Cas’ eyes, the corners of his lips tilted in a tiny smile. Cas couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“We just got rid of them, and you’re already planning to get them all back?”

“It was nice having everyone in one place, happy.”

“You were a nervous wreck for a week getting ready. You had a list of all of your lists.”

“But I have a lot more time to plan for Christmas.”

“OK, you have a point there.”

Dean just grinned at him. Honestly, Cas would be happy to be here again in nine months. It would mean that Dean was still by his side, and he couldn’t think of anything he wanted more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't say how sorry I am for the long gap. I hate leaving you hanging, and I *really* missed writing these guys! I forgot how much better my mood is when I give myself time to just sit and write. Working on the houses (getting the new one livable and getting the old one ready to sell) has been insane, but I'm getting there very slowly. I'm so glad that I can finally make a little space for the me time that is writing.
> 
> I'm not gonna make any promises, but I'm gonna shoot for about a chapter a week. :)


End file.
